Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival

Congratulations to Sarah Armstrong, whose novel Run has been named a 2026 CBCA Honour Book in the Younger Readers category.

Run was also named the Book of the Year: Younger Readers by CBCA Shadow Judges, which is selected by panels of children from all around Australia – no truer judges for kids’ books!

Mackay students had the privilege of seeing Sarah at our 2026 Festival, where she shared secrets to creating edge-of-your-seat suspense and led a small-group crime writing workshop.

Thank you to Accuvest for bringing Sarah to the 2026 Festival.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS 📚🙌

Whitsunday Voices 2026 wouldn’t be possible without the incredible organisations that support our Festival.

From bringing presenters to Mackay to supporting students, schools, and Festival events, every contribution helps make it happen.

To all of our sponsors and partners, thank you for backing Whitsunday Voices and helping us inspire a love of stories, creativity and reading.

ONE MONTH ON 📸💜

One month on, we're still looking back on the wonderful moments that made Whitsunday Voices 2026 so special.

Thank you to everyone who helped make WV2026 such a memorable celebration of stories, laughter and imagination.

Congratulations on your Logie win, Jelena Dokic ! 🏆

We were so proud to host Jelena as our Keynote Speaker at Whitsunday Voices and share her incredible journey with our community. ❤️✨

Through her honest and moving presentations, Jelena's important message of the strength in finding your inner voice was delivered to 800 students and over 500 Literary Dinner guests from across Mackay and Isaac regions.

Jelena Dokic - a brilliant story teller and an absolute winner in our eyes .👏🏼👏🏼

📸 Cherrie Hughes Social Media & Photography

📚✨ Celebrating Our 2026 Short Story Awards Winners ✨📚

Congratulations to all of our Short Story Awards recipients! We celebrated the storytelling talent of young writers from across our region at this year's awards ceremony.

Excitingly, we were joined by guest host, award-winning bestselling author Adrian Beck , who shared the launch of his newest title, Nowhere House. Award recipients were delighted to receive a signed copy of Adrian's book, along with prizes generously provided by our sponsors Thiess and JCU: James Cook University, Australia .

This year's competition received incredible support from the Mackay community, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to all the teachers and parents who encouraged students to participate. The competition provides an important platform for young writers to develop their skills and share their work beyond the classroom, helping to foster a lifelong love of writing and creativity.

A special thank you to our emcee, Mrs Diane O'Connell, whose enthusiasm and dedication helped make the event such a success. Mrs O'Connell was also instrumental in coordinating our judging panel, which included James Cook University Education students and an experienced group of teachers who generously volunteered their time and expertise.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to another successful year. We are so proud of all the young writers who entered and look forward to reading even more amazing stories in the future.

👏 Congratulations to our winners and finalists!

✨ The DBI Literary Dinner 2026 ✨

The excitement was building, the room was buzzing, and everyone was ready to celebrate .

The perfect start to a night of connection, inspiration and celebration.

Pre-Dinner Gallery 📸 Thanks to Lauren Brooks

📚 “Sharing My Story Saved My Life”

Tennis champion Jelena Dokic delivered a powerful message of resilience at the DBI Literary Dinner, sharing how finding her voice and telling her story helped save her life.

The event was part of the Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival, inspiring thousands of young people to discover the power of storytelling and find their own voice.

See more photos from the day here: https://www.mackayandwhitsundaylife.com/article/sharing-my-story-saved-my-life

Can we take a moment to appreciate the Whitsunday Voices Talent Team of 2026? 👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼

This extraordinary line-up of some of Australia's most prominent and highly-acclaimed literary creatives delivered an outstanding youth program across 3 days.

The brief : regional access, opportunity, connection and creative inspiration.

N A I L E D I T 🔨

.saunders .townley.author

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SPECIAL SCHOOL VISIT 🎨✏️

We kicked off the 2026 Festival with a special visit to the Mackay District Special School, where Aśka Storytelling led a fun, hands-on storytelling session.

Students learned how to create characters using simple shapes like circles, squares and triangles, then brought their own ideas to life through drawing.

There were plenty of smiles, laughter and creativity throughout the session.

Thank you to the wonderful students and staff for making us feel so welcome. We loved sharing this special Festival experience with you.

An inspiring evening at the Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival Dinner in Mackay. ✨

Pictured is Dr Naguesh with the incredible Jelena Dokic , whose story of resilience, courage and hope continues to inspire so many!

NG GyneHealth is so proud to support the festival again this year as a sponsor and to be part of something that brings powerful conversations and meaningful connections to our community. 💜