Nature Writing Prize

We are delighted to present our inaugural NATURE WRITING PRIZE, run in partnership with Fullers Bookshop Hobart and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. 

The prize will be judged ‘blind’, which means the judges won’t know whose work they’re reading. The judging panel will be Jane Rawson, Island's Editorial Manager, Ben Walter from Fullers and Ted Lefroy from the TLC (bios below). 

What are we looking for? 

Send us your very best writing about nature. It can be fiction, nonfiction or graphic narrative, and please keep it to under 4000 words or, if it’s a graphic narrative, six pages. We are looking for something that will be unlike anything else we’ve read, that will surprise us, give us new ideas, let us see nature in a whole new way. You don’t have to write about a rainforest or the ocean or the plight of koalas (though you certainly can) – nature is everywhere, and we’re excited to read about your very specific experience of it. Your piece can be sad, happy, political, poetic, confused, thrilled, lyrical, blunt or a combination of all of the above. Put everything you’ve got into it!

For inspiration, you can watch an online discussion about nature writing in Australia that Island ran with Laura Jean McKay, Sharleigh Crittenden and James Bradley on 9 July 2025. You can also see some of the pieces published in Island’s 2021-22 Nature Writing Project, or watch webinars from that project hosted by Ben Walter, Ellen van Neerven, Harry Saddler and Jane Rawson. 

THE PRIZE 

The winner will be offered a week-long funded writers residency at the TLC’s 670 hectare Sloping Main Reserve, on the beautiful Tasman Peninsula. Overlooking Frederick Henry Bay and a gorgeous beach, and protecting thriving wetlands and eucalypt forests, Sloping Main is home to migratory birds, sea eagles, quolls, echidnas and Tasmanian devils. The resident will live in a basic but comfortable small house on the reserve that has electricity, phone and internet coverage, and running water. It is about 20 minutes’ drive from the nearest supermarket at Nubeena, 1.5 hours’ drive from Hobart, and is accessible by 2WD vehicle. The winner will negotiate the timing of their residency with the TLC and will be responsible for their own travel arrangements, but the prize includes $3000 towards flights, car hire and living expenses. The winner will also receive a package of books from Fullers.

The winning writer’s piece will be published in Island issue 176, due for publication in December 2025, at usual publication rates. All other entries will be considered for publication in 2026 under Island's usual terms and conditions. For more info https://island.submittable.com/submit

ELIGIBILITY 

Entry is open to Australian citizens and residents only. No age limit applies. Current Island, Fullers and TLC staff, interns and board members are not eligible. 

TIMELINES & TERMS & CONDITIONS 

Entries are now open and close at 5pm AEST on Monday 25 August 

We are looking for works suitable to a general audience, rather than scholarly/academic works. If you have previously submitted your work to Island, you may resubmit it for the prize. The expectation is that the winning work will require little editing. However, any editing involved will be undertaken by Island’s Editorial Manager, Jane Rawson, in discussion with the author. The author will have final approval of the work. 

A fee of $20 per entry applies. You can enter as many times as you wish but each piece must be entered separately. All entries are via Submittable only and your work must be attached as a text document (acceptable file types: doc, docx, txt, rtf). Entries will be judged ‘blind’, so please do not include your name on or in your work. The judges’ decision is final, and no individual feedback will be provided. Works previously published are not eligible. Writers must guarantee that their work is original, does not plagiarise or infringe the copyright of any other party, and does not breach any other law or ethical principle of publication (e.g. defamation, libel, obscenity). Copyright remains with the authors; however, writers must give Island exclusive publication rights for the work for three months from publication. Any further reproduction must publicly acknowledge Island as the original publisher. The winner must agree to participate in any reasonable media events relating to their work, including radio and television interviews and online discussions. 

MEET THE JUDGES

Jane Rawson is the Editorial Manager of Island and an author of fiction and nonfiction. Her latest book is Human/Nature: On life in a wild world, a collection of essays about how we think about nature. She was previously the Environment & Energy Editor at The Conversation and Communications Coordinator at the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. 

Ben Walter is a Walkley Award-winning essayist and the author of the acclaimed short story collection, What Fear Was. A past fiction editor at Island and a bookseller at Fullers, his work has recently appeared in The Kenyon Review (US), The Cimarron Review (US) and 3:AM Magazine (France). His debut poetry collection, Lithosphere, will be published later this year.

Ted Lefroy is a board member at the Tasmanian Land Conservancy and an adjunct professor at the University of Tasmania. He trained in agricultural science and worked in extension and rural development before becoming director of the Centre for Environment at the University of Tasmania in 2005 and head of research at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture in 2018. His essays have been published in The Conversation and Breathing space, he is a book reviewer at The Skeptic and has a regular spot on ABC Hobart discussing popular science books.