Competition
The Young Creatives Awards are open to people aged 12 to 24 who live, work or study in the Inner West. Work can be submitted for the following categories:
Each category has three awards based on age: 12 to 15, 16 to 18, and 19 to 24.
Get your work seen
The awards are a chance to get your work seen with the finalist's works printed, performed and exhibited later in the year. Previous finalists have been commissioned for Inner West Council marketing campaigns and led creative workshops showing how the Young Creatives Awards can be a springboard to a creative career.
How to enter
Enter your writing entry here.
Enter your art entry here.
Enter your film entry here.
We recommend reading the conditions of entry and the terms and conditions before starting the submissions form.
2025 prizes
- The total prize pool for 2025 is $8250
Winner of each age group and category: $500
Runner up of each age group and category: $250.
Librarians Choice for each category: $250
People's Choice Award for each category: $250
- Finalists' artwork in public exhibition at Chrissie Cotter Gallery.
- Finalists' film screening for finalists and members of the public
- Finalists' written works are collated into a book and kept in our library collection.
- Content producer roles for Young Creatives Take Over festival program in 2026.
Conditions of entry
Choose an item in our library collection (digital, print, audio or DVD) and create your own work using this item as inspiration. Search our collection here.
- Writers: Submit a piece of writing which can be a short story, poetry, a fan fiction or a piece of prose that is 1000 words.
- Artists: Submit a photo of an artwork which can be a painting, drawing, sculpture, textile piece or still digital work.
- Filmmakers: Submit a MP4 file of a moving image digital work, animation, narrative film or music video between 2 and 7 minutes in duration.
Submit your entry using the correct link above. You can enter more than one work.
Terms and Conditions (DOCX 56.2KB)
Terms and Conditions (PDF 230.6KB)
Event and program timeline
- Entries open: 21 May to 31 August.
- Winners announced: Art (Thursday 20 November), Writing (Friday 21 November), Film (Thursday 23 November)
- Finalists' art exhibition: Chrissie Cotter Gallery, 18 to 30 November (Thursday-Sunday)
- Live Reading: Chrissie Cotter Gallery, 29 November
- Film awards and screening: 23 November
Previous winners
Previous winners of the Young Creatives Awards
Meet the Judges
For 2025 we are delighted to welcome six local creatives who will lend their expertise and knowledge to the judging process.
 |
|
Parris Dewhurst is an artist and arts educator who practices drawing, collage, and ceramics. With a degree from Sydney College of the Arts and artist residencies in Berlin and Reykjavik, she has exhibited at Corridor Project, Chrissie Cotter Gallery, Articulate Project Space, Renew Newcastle and ESD Gallery.
Parris has guided students to receive nominations for Art Express and facilitates workshops for local councils, disability services, and the aged care sector.
|
|
Lexy Potts is a queer and colourblind photographer. From conceptual art to photojournalism, Lexy's work involves vivid colour and raw emotions, and has been showcased at the AGNSW, Powerhouse Museum and Art Syndicate. She has shared her work practices in interviews by Shutterstock and NSW Department of Education and been published by TimeOut and RedBull.
In her 2014 TedX talk 'Cultivating Community' Lexy expresses the importance of celebrating uniqueness.
|
|
 |
.jpg) |
|
Xavier Hazard holds a Masters in Writing from both NIDA and the Victorian College of the Arts, and has worked as a notetaker and script coordinator across television projects with Warner Bros., See-Saw Films, Roadshow Rough Diamond, Easy Tiger, Goalpost Pictures, ABC, Netflix, and Stan.
His most recent play ALL BOYS was published by Playlab in July 2025 and sold-out seasons in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.
|
|
Caleb Irwin is an award-winning filmmaker and producer with a Master of Arts Screen: Producing from AFTRS. His acclaimed short films include Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, shown at Flickerfest, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, and the Australian Cinematographers Society Awards.
As co-founder of CIMP Entertainment, Caleb is committed to fostering a people-first approach to filmmaking, ensuring creative environments that prioritise collaboration and well-being.
|
|
 |
 |
|
Kavita Bedford is a writer and has taught in media, anthropology and literature specialising in anti-racism and storytelling. Her first novel, Friends & Dark Shapes, was published in 2021 in USA, Australia and Italy and was shortlisted in the QLD Literary Awards for Fiction, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and SmallPress Network Book of the Year Award.
Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Literary Hub and she was a Churchill Fellow exploring comparative migrant narratives.
|
|
Dylin Hardcastle is an award-winning author, artist, screenwriter and scholar. His 2024 novel, A Language of Limbs won the 2023 Kathleen Mitchell Literary Award, and is published in North America, the United Kingdom and Türkiye. Dylin's 2020 novel, Below Deck was published in ten territories and translated into eight languages.
Dylin is also the co-creator, co-writer and co-director of Cloudy River, which was acquired by SBS On Demand.
|
|
 |