A fresh look at Victoria’s footy culture: winners of The Age Essay Prize announced

When Grace Biber was growing up in Sydney, she rolled her eyes every time her extended family in Melbourne raved about the footy. She says her views were informed by some of the front-page headlines at the time that were marked by “drugs, scandals and racism”.

A year after moving to Melbourne to study writing at RMIT, Biber saw her first game in 2023. By the end of the season, she was hooked, not only by the game but by the way it fosters community spirit.

Grace Biber, winner of The Age Essay Prize in the 19-24 age group, at Citizens Park in Richmond.

Biber’s newfound appreciation of AFL was her choice of topic for The Age/Dymocks Essay Prize for young writers, answering the question: “How is Victoria different from the rest of the country and how have these differences been established?”

In an award ceremony on Wednesday night attended by the finalists, Biber was named the winner of the 19-24 age group. She receives prizes including $1000 courtesy of Dymocks Books and Tutoring, a 12-month digital subscription to The Age, a newsroom tour and the ability to pitch additional writing in the year ahead.

Siya Gauri Singh, a year 10 student at Suzanne Cory High School, was selected as the winner of the 14-18 age group for her piece, The ‘Fare’ Route for Victorian Students: Free Public Transport, which tackled the question, “What is the one law you would change and why?”

The awards were judged by senior Age editors and guest judge Maxine Beneba Clarke, who described Biber’s essay as “well structured, lyrical and emotive”.

“The essay looks at an iconic Melbourne institution – the AFL – with a refreshingly new gaze,” said Clarke. “It is complex in its examination of football as a creator of community, and outlet for emotion, whilst not shying away from examining the toxicity that the cult of football celebrity often engenders. Crossing the Barassi is engaging in voice, and original in argument.”

Singh said she was encouraged to submit to the essay competition by her school’s “vibrant” English faculty.

When Singh observed other students getting fined, or avoiding tapping their myki card on the train because they “didn’t have the funds to touch on”, she knew she had to delve into students’ access to public transport.

“Victoria is the education state of Australia … they’re putting so much money into making the education system better, but students can’t access it,” says Singh. “Students are what make the future of Victoria.”

Darla Tejada was highly commended in the 19-24 age group, while Saria Ratnam and Tvisha Joshi were highly commended in the 14-18 age group. They will each receive $500 from Dymocks and a 12-month digital subscription to The Age.

Clarke said the essay finalists had delved into issues of social justice and hope.

“These essays demonstrate the urgency with which young people across Victoria seek to help solve some of the problems of the state – and the world – that we will leave them,” she said.

The winning essays will be published by The Age in the coming weeks.

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