Literary Competition

The Literary Competition is jointly sponsored by the Independent Education Union of Australia: Qld & Northern Territory Branch (IEUA-QNT), The English Teachers Association of Queensland, with Penguin Random House providing the book prizes. 

Sections are open to students and staff in all schools in Queensland and non-government Schools in the Northern Territory.

Limit of Entries:

• Students; one entry in each section eg. One poem and/or one short story
• Staff: one entry in the open section (short story only)
• Schools; maximum of ten entries in each student section and five entries in the open section. If more than the limit of entries per section for a school is received, the entrants will be asked which entry/entries are to be withdrawn.

Each entry must be that of an individual (no joint work) and the original work of the entrant.

The entry is to be typed (not scanned) and uploaded in Word or PDF format as part of the online entry form.

Competition organisers retrain the right to publish the prize-winning entries. Copyright remains with the author.

Please note that the entrant’s name or identifying details MUST NOT appear on the work itself, including the file name. If any identifying information is included on the work, the piece will not be included in the judging.

Entries in non-fiction prose and short story sections must be accompanied by a word count to appear on both the work itself and the entry form.

Please ensure that each entry is carefully proofread.

PLAGIARISM IS PROHIBITED. USE OF GENERATIVE AI IS PROHIBITED.

Submitted work must be created by the person stated on the submission. No part of this work may be copied from any other source or published elsewhere other than when it is acknowledged in full, according to normal protocols.  Use of AI software to generate ideas or compose writing or for editing is prohibited.

All entries will be put through anti-plagiarism and AI detection software. In entering the competition, entrants consent to this taking place.  Should an entrant be awarded a prize for a work that the competition organisers (at their absolute discretion) subsequently consider to be plagiarised, the entrant shall refund the prize money to the organisation on demand.

The decision of the judges and competition organisers is final.

Entries must be submitted online by 5pm on Friday 12 June 2026 at https://ieuqnt.org.au/competitions/