A major national writing prize founded by a prominent Wiradjuri author is once again calling for submissions – and Dubbo has already proven it can produce a winner.

Dubbo-based writer Shannon Barnes was the inaugural recipient of the Bundyi Writing Prize in 2025, a win that has led to a publishing deal with Simon & Schuster Australia under its First Nations-focused Bundyi Imprint.

The prize was founded and is led by acclaimed Wiradjuri author Dr Anita Heiss, who serves as Publisher-at-Large for the Bundyi Imprint. The initiative seeks to uncover compelling and original adult manuscripts by emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers.

For Shannon, the win marked more than a personal milestone.

“Before the Bundyi Prize, I wrote quietly and in isolation, keeping my stories close,” she said.

“Winning placed my work in a culturally-safe space and accelerated my growth in ways I could never have reached alone.

“The Bundyi Prize and Dr Anita Heiss’s leadership creates the conditions for First Nations writers to be nurtured, challenged, and genuinely seen,” she added.

“It changed my life and affirmed that my cultural voice has a rightful place to land in its strongest form.”

Shannon’s debut novel, Strangelands, will be published in early 2027. Set on Ngiyampaa Country, Strangelands is a multi-generational literary fiction novel following the Yawatyal Harris family as they move through grief, kinship and inherited memory.

The story explores the quiet violences of assimilation and the contemporary impacts of trauma, while grounding its characters in the steady presence of Country. The central character is Kennedy Harris, a single mother in her fifties who begins to reckon with the parts of herself long set aside. Through her journey, the novel reflects on healing, responsibility and the courage required to confront silence within families.

Beneath the narrative sits a deeper question: what if nothing had been stolen? What if Culture had been left whole?

Shannon describes the novel as “the doorway into that possibility” – an imagining of what might have been and what may still be rebuilt.

When announcing the inaugural winner, Dr Heiss said she hoped future submissions would “uncover someone as gifted as Shannon Barnes,” as she continues building a strong foundation of First Nations titles for the Bundyi Imprint.

The Bundyi Writing Prize awards $10,000 to an outstanding unpublished manuscript by an emerging Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander writer. The winner also receives manuscript development with a First Nations editor and the opportunity to secure a standard publishing contract with the Bundyi Imprint.

Entries for this year’s prize opened on March 3 and will close on August 31.

Shannon hopes sharing her experience will encourage other regional writers to consider submitting.

“It’s about raising awareness of the prize and encouraging local writers to back themselves,” she explained.

“There are growing literary opportunities emerging from regional NSW – and this prize proves our stories belong on a national stage.”

From Dubbo to bookshelves across the country, Shannon Barnes’ journey signals what can happen when regional voices are supported, Culturally held, and given room to grow.