2026 Ceremony
LitLinks Address 2026
From a Judge’s Perspective: Jenine Westerburg,
LitLinks Judge for Year 7/8 Category (2021 – present)
I am honoured to be presenting the LitLinks Address this year. As my fifth year as a Coordinator of LitLinks, and as one of the Year 7/8 Judges, I would like to take the opportunity to draw back the curtain, and talk about LitLinks from a Judge’s perspective.
Each year, judges get very excited to see what comes our way.
Trends emerge from year to year depending on what is happening in the wider world, however, we can always be assured of receiving stories based on a perennial smorgasbord of topics of such as power; war; death and survival; mortality; the environment and climate change; identity and belonging; loneliness and human connection; technology, and now of course, the impact of AI.
What we love is the way these topics are chosen to be explored through story. For example, we’ve seen power explored through a duel between a raven and a man; we’ve seen identity explored through a young girl tormented by her reflection in the mirror; and we’ve seen progress at the expense of human connection explored through a spaceman eating his spaghetti alone in space.
Let me talk a bit about our judging categories …
Our winner can sometimes be hard to decide. Two stories can be so very different but equally mesmerising, and equally well-written. Often the difference between the Winner and the Highly Commended is paper thin. We’ve had times when we’re sure of a Winner and then, on re-reading in order to write our “judges’ comments”, we realise that the Highly Commended story is actually the better one. Re-reading and re-reading and re-reading allow the authentic voice of the author to rise above the words.
And we love that we have our own Award dedicated to Speculative Fiction. We love reading your spec fiction and all the sub-genres that encompasses. This is where we see vivid and fertile imaginations at play, using original settings and world building concepts; delving into Gothic and surreal worlds. I like what YA author Lisa Fuller says about SpecFic (her favourite genre): Even if the content is unreal [she says], every [spec fiction] story is, at its heart, about people.1
And then there’s the Judge’s Choice Award: what a privilege to be allowed to reward a story purely based on how that story seems to speak to us directly with an enigmatic, unknowable quality. We adore having this category at our disposal, to honour those stories with a special spark that’s hard to define.
What else do we look for? Once when I was prejudging, I came across a story with no arc and no ending – so not a proper short story at all, thus precluding it from receiving a major award – but the fizz and sparkle in the writer’s voice was loud and clear, the premise so original, and the writing so full of energy! That is the kind of story that we still want to acknowledge in some way, perhaps through an Encouragement Award or by being shortlisted or showcased on the website as an Editor’s Choice, because in it we see the kernel of a future published-author’s voice emerging.
And please know that if your story doesn’t receive an award, it does not mean it is not a good, well-written story. This is a competition. And that means you are competing with your peers. If you sit within an exceptionally talented year group of narrative writers, you may not make the final cut, even though your storytelling is sound, and your use of language, adept. Remember, you’re automatically a winner by being accepted into the competition in the first place.
What have we seen in the writing over the last five or so years? You have shown us, through your stories:
- how to experiment with language in original and creative ways;
- how to write on grim topics offering hope;
- how to skilfully surprise us with unexpected endings;
- how to minimise characters but develop them effectively; and
- how to present us with original approaches to structure.
All the ingredients of really great storytelling!
And what about the titles! Nothing so tantalising to a judge as glancing over the list of titles before judging, trying to predict what lies beneath. A great title should be inviting, a hint of what’s to come without giving the game away. An intriguing title is often the first tip-off to a judge that something special lies ahead. Let me share with you some of my favourites from past years:
- The Library of Forgotten Dreams;
- The Past’s Current;
- Variations on a Summer’s Day;
and a story that is as sentimental as its title …
- Heart of a Mutt.
To our wonderful teachers, our teachers of writing. Thank you for teaching and encouraging your students to write. Those teachers who have entered our competition over the years, thank you, in your busy lives, for taking the time to craft a story, modelling to your students that you too know what it is to wrestle with writing. As author Mem Fox says: If you are not a writer, you will not understand the difficulties of writing. If you are not a writer, you will not know the fears and hope of the writers you teach. 2
It goes without saying that LitLinks, like any arts-related competition, has its challenges in the era of AI. The purpose of a writing competition like LitLinks is to nurture emerging writers, to give you, the students and teachers, an opportunity to experiment, share, and showcase your writing. If you are tempted to submit an AI-generated story, think twice. We must ask ourselves why we write. We need to remind ourselves that we write fiction to express ourselves; to wrestle with our ideas; to put a voice to them. Writing should be a voyage of discovery. So much joy, satisfaction, self-exploration and wellbeing, can come from making our abstract thoughts concrete on the page. The writing life is not all about winning awards and being published. It is about connecting writing with your life. It’s a conduit to expressing emotional honesty. Having others - your teacher or a friend - read your story and want to start a conversation about the ideas and themes that your raise, that you’re interested in, is connection!
Advice to those who think you need AI to generate ideas: YA author Tristan Bancks says that if you start whingeing with: ‘Blerh, I don't know what to write … this is terrible … I've got no story ideas,’ [then start writing] every day, and don't try to make everything perfect… [and] after half a page … suddenly [he says] these little pearls start to come forth … Be okay about writing rot to begin with because eventually something interesting will come out.3
In conclusion I am sure I speak on behalf of all judges when I say that we never underestimate the enormous privilege it is to judge your writing. Thank you to everybody for taking the time to contribute, and congratulations to you all for having the courage to write your own stories, and not succumb to the temptation of using AI: a pursuit that is ultimately dissatisfying.
We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us in 2027!
Quote References:
- Lisa Fuller quote from https://hercanberra.com.au/life/five-minutes-with-local-author-lisa-fuller/
- Mem Fox quote from Wright, Alan J. Igniting Writing: When a Teacher Writes. Hawker Brownlow Education. Moorabbin Vic. 2011.
- Tristan Banks quote from https://resources.education.nsw.gov.au/