litlinks 2025

A creative writing competition for ACT school students and their teachers

Read the 2025 Winning Entries

Creative and original storytelling flourished in 2025, with LitLinks receiving a record 218 entries. Through ink on the page, ACT students and teachers gave us a myriad of highly creative and original explorations of life’s great mysteries and challenges. The diversity in themes, structure, voice, and settings provided a rich slate, that made judging both agony and ecstasy!

We applaud the student and teacher authors of 2025, who, through their fiction, offered glimpses of the questions and concerns that shape their worlds.

Click on the images and links to explore this year’s collection of stories.

Image: A teenage mountain climber, trapped on a rock ledge in the midst of a stor. This image was created using AI Tools.
Image: An old woman stands in the entry to a quaint bed and breakfast hotel. She gives a slightly unnerving smile. This image was edited using AI tools.
Image: A redgum tree seen in the moonlight, from a bedroom window. This image was generated using AI Tools.
Image: An old city square. Under a sagging green awning in front of a cafe, an old piano that has weathered over years sits, waiting to be played. This image was created using AI Tools.
Image: Out at sea. The sun sets on the horizon, the colourful light bouncing off the blue water. Wait, did I just see a tail fin in the water ahead of me? This image was created using AI tools.
Image: A young woman on the deck of a deep sea trawler boat. She wears a colourful beanie and a dark, waterproof jacket. This image was created using AI Tools.
Image: An illustration of a 13-year-old soldier from world war II. He is standing on a barren battlefield, with a devastated city in the background. This image was generated using AI Tools.
The profile view of a thin, old man sitting in a battered leather chair, in a grey and bleak room. On the wall is a clock set to midnight. The old man looks out a window to contrasting scene of a sunny garden, with ivy and jasmine plants, lush and a little wild. This image was edited using AI Tools.
Image: A house in a non-descript suburban street. This image was created using AI Tools.
Find out about the 2025 Award Ceremony
Image: A painter's studio. A blank canvas stands on an easel in front of a large window. It's raining outside. This image was created using AI Tools.
Image: An illustration of a clockmaker's house in a tiny village in surrounded by rolling hills. This image was generated using AI Tools.
Image: A dark male figure, wearing 18th century clothing. He looks down upon a futuristic city, with glowing lights, traffic and huge buildings. He's holding a mobile phone that glows with social media on the screen. This image was created using AI Tools.
Image: A boy walks away, on a worn path, across a dust-colored, dry, and endless field. A fox walks beside him. The air is filled with paper cranes. This image was created using AI Tools.
Coming Soon: Editor's Choice
Image: A silhouette of a woman stands in a dystopian tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, there is a large door that opens to a vibrant, wild landscape. This image was created using AI Tools.
Image: A teenage student in a classroom, taking an exam. She looks very stressed. This image was edited using AI Tools.
Image: A small, old apple orchard. A ramshackle shed can be seen amongst the trees. Apples have fallen and lay bruised on the ground. This image was created using AI Tools.
Image: A homestead on the hill, with smaller cottages below in the Australian bush. It's sunset. There are gum trees and ferns. This image was created using AI Tools.