Monday, 13 October 2025 Books+Publishing @booksandpublishing
Bundyi Publishing has announced Shannon Barnes as the winner of the inaugural Bundyi Writing Prize for her mixed-genre novel Strangelands.
Barnes wins a $10,000 cash prize, manuscript development, and a publishing contract with the Bundyi imprint.
The judging panel, which included publisher at large Anita Heiss, Simon & Schuster publishing director Ben Ball and consultant editor Bianca Valentino, called Strangelands “a bold and original work that blends truth-telling and intergenerational trauma with a contemporary political backdrop and elements of the supernatural.
“Its visceral emotional depth and immersive language powerfully convey the enduring impacts of colonisation and the Stolen Generations, while exploring identity, land, and cultural resilience through a layered, multifaceted lens.”
Barnes is a proud Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan woman (with ties to Wiradjuri on her paternal moiety side), living with her four children on Tubba Gah Wiradjuri Country (Dubbo). She is a writer, creative, and founder of Boomalli Consulting.
She said, ‘I thank the judges for reading Strangelands through a culturally and politically sensitive lens and with an understanding my book, which like our existence, weaves between two (physical) worlds, a spiritual realm that provides us with our strength and layered between these are the struggles faced in life. The book was a cathartic write for me and its storyline has played out in my mind long before words reached a page.’
Bundyi has acquired world rights to Strangelands, and plans to publish the novel in early 2027.
Photo credit: Alicia May Photography.
Category: Awards Local news