Theme: The Next Great Hashtag.

It is with great delight that we announce the fifth annual Spectator Australia Thawley Essay prize. As per last year, the winner will receive $5,000, publication in this magazine, and a slap-up meal with the three esteemed judges; Michael Thawley, former PM John Howard and Rowan Dean (well, OK, two esteemed judges plus the editor of this magazine).

All that is required is a sharp pen and an even sharper mind, with the requirement being an essay of between 1000 and 2000 words that displays all the Speccie characteristics of being thought-provoking, insightful and engaging on this year’s theme: ‘The Next Great Hashtag’. The essays may be humorous, creative, whimsical, prophetic, historical or whatever tickles your imagination.

Please submit entries to rowan.dean@bigpond.com

Please clearly put THAWLEY 2018 SURNAME – NAME in the subject heading.

Submissions must be on a Word document.

Entries must be between 1000 and 2000 words long. Please add them as an attachment to the email. All work must be your own, and all entries become the property of The Thawley Prize and may not be published elsewhere without permission from The Spectator Australia. Due to popular demand, the deadline has been extended to 5 January 2019. The winner and runner-up will be announced early in 2019 and published soon after. The runner-up does not receive a prize but will be invited to the dinner and will also be published.

2014’s winning entry, ‘The telegram that saved us from technocracy’, by Daniel Ward, can be found here.

2015’s winning entry, the thought-provoking ‘Warri and Yatungka’, by Tony Letford, can be found here.

2016’s winning entry, ’95th Birthday Present’, by Trevor Watkin, can be found here.

2017’s winning entry ‘Observations from the Grave’, by Tom Grein, can be found here.

And good luck!