Wesley Michel Wright Prize

Key scholarship details

Application status

Not open yet

Applications open

13 Apr 2026

Applications close

22 Jun 2026

Benefit amount

Up to $5,450

Eligible study level

Undergraduate, Honours, Graduate coursework, Graduate research

Eligible student type

Domestic students

Eligible study stage

Future study, Current study, Alumni

Benefit duration

One-off

Summary

The Wesley Michel Wright Prize is awarded for an original work of verse or poetry.

About the donor

Wesley Michel Wright was an alumnus of the University of Melbourne who achieved a Bachelor of Arts in 1951. Mr Wright left a gift in his will supporting the Wesley Michel Wright Prize with the purpose of awarding an Australian author of original verse or poetry.

Benefits

This prize provides a one-off payment of up to $5,450.

Eligibility and selection criteria

Eligibility

To be considered for this prize, you must:

Be an author of original verse or poetry
Be an Australian citizen
Have had the poem published in a print or digital book or journal within 12 months prior to the closing date

Selection criteria

The prize is offered to the student(s) ranked highest based on their submitted original verse or poetry.

Conditions

Students must:

Accept the award online within 21 days
Acknowledge the Faculty of Arts and the name of the award 'Wesley Michel Wright Prize' in any promotional material produced as a result of the award money and where possible, assist the Faculty of Arts in promoting the award.

Application

How to apply

You must submit an online application and include:

Publication details including the current ISSN or ISBN number for your book or journal publication, or the web address of work published electronically
A poem or a collection of poems in English of between 50 and 500 lines. Poems can be consecutive poems or selected from different sections of your book to make up the line requirement. Title, stanza breaks and footnotes are not included in line count. If your entry is part of a hard copy book, upload the extract you would like to submit for judging
Copy of proof of Australian citizenship (passport, birth certificate, citizenship certificate, etc.) The selection committee may request your original copy at a later date.

Works that have previously been submitted as entries for the prize will not be considered.

Only one application can be made per book. Multiple applications, on separate application forms, will be considered if they are from different published works.

For further queries contact: Faculty of Arts - Scholarships and Prizes

When will I know the outcome?

Applicants are advised of the outcome via email within 8-10 weeks.

Submit an application

Recipient feedback

I’m thrilled to be joining the list of esteemed past winners of the prize which includes some of my favourite Australian poets. I’m excited to use this prize to buy myself some precious writing time and to develop my practice so I can continue to contribute to the Australian poetry community into the future.

Jarad Bruinstroop

The information listed here is subject to change without notice. Where we have listed information about jointly run scholarships programs, please also see our partners' websites. Information describing the number and value of scholarships awarded is indicative.

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