Other Writing

Mandy Louise was awarded the Eumundi Writers Festival Short Story Award Laureate 2026 on 6th September.2026 for her piece 'Ngumundi: Voice of the Trees.'

Her story brings 1900s logging in the Eumundi area to life, told from the perspective of the residents who live among the towering trees.

Through their eyes, the reader enters a world in upheaval, shaken by human industry, where tension between the long-standing community and the interlopers has an amusing bent. Capitalisation of the land and...

• Above, the great hammerbeam roof soared into shadow, its carved angels watching with expressionless faces. Light from the south window fell in pale stripes across the floor, catching the judges on their dais and leaving the rafters in darkness. The murmur of spectators echoed strangely in the vast space — a low tide of whispers, coughs, and shifting benches. To Dacre’s right sat the jury; before him, the King’s commissioners; behind him, the restless crowd. He felt the weight of the hall’s...