THE City of Subiaco’s 2025 Craig Silvey Award for Young Writers has recognised a rising literary talent, with Lesmurdie Senior High School student Misha Anwar securing first place in the upper secondary category for her compelling story A Kite in Gaza.

Ms Anwar was announced as the winner at a special ceremony held at Subiaco Library on Monday, October 20 alongside five other winners from other categories.

This year’s award season attracted more than 1180 entries from school students across Western Australia, including submissions from as far as Broome and Pemberton.

Award-winning author Craig Silvey was impressed at the standard of submissions at this year’s event, saying compared to previous, this year was of the highest calibre.

“You took me to worlds that were profound, impassioned and unpredictable,” he said.

“I hope you all continue writing as you are all astonishingly talented and the world needs more of your words.”

Ms Anwar’s winning entry A Kite in Gaza is a heartbreaking and hopeful piece of short fiction told from the perspective of a six-year-old child living amidst conflict, who finds a sense of normalcy and joy at receiving a new kite.

The short text explores themes of fear, innocence, and the protective instinct of family.

Speaking about the moment she won, Ms Anwar admitted the recognition was a shock.

“I was really, really surprised,” she said.

“When I submitted myself for the award, it was based on a recommendation from my English teacher. I had no idea… I had no expectations going into it.

“I’ve never been in a situation like that… to have people read what I wrote.

“It was also a controversial topic… so it made me really nervous.”

When asked why she decided to write about the Gaza conflict she said that she wanted to bring more representation to what is happening in Israel and the Gaza strip.

“Originally it was an English project and the prompt was to write on a unique perspective or a real-world issue,” she said.

“I’ve been really sympathetic to the Gaza conflict because there just isn’t enough representation.

“If I can write about it, if someone can read it… if people know more about what’s happening… about a different side to what is happening over there.”

While Ms Anwar hasn’t committed to a writing career, the win has provided a new perspective for her about her writing talent.

“I will definitely keep writing for myself, my own personal writing,” she said.

“This has opened things up, maybe in the future I will think about joining another competition, seeing what’s out there.

“I feel like (the win) has really opened up doors for me.”

The City of Subiaco is hopeful the award competition will continue to encourage young writers like Ms Anwar to use their voices to explore complex and important issues.