Our 2026 judges

This is it! The final weeks of year 2. Someone's about to crown.

 

We've had a huge jump in submissions this year, which has been really exciting to see as a grass roots operation throwing things at the wall. No word yet on how many of those are bots, but it'll be fun to find out. Who's playing with form? Who's trying to pass a word generator as an author? Who's just really bad at metaphor?

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Here to make those calls, we are very happy to have last year's judges returning:

Oisín 'Okay' Kan is a writer and aspiring wizard, currently carving a wand from the trunk of a dead Manna Gum.

Jacky T is a poet & producer from country Victoria, wearing city life like an itchy woollen sweater.

Jessie Giles is time-poor parent who likes to disappear into worlds that are not her own; writer & poet.

And a new addition in former Street Press editor, Sam Wall! Sam's not really quaified to judge a writing contest but he's hot and smart and funny and great in bed and also at math and he can dance like no one you've ever seen and he smells like the first spring rain and he's really just very neat.

The competition closes 31 October and we're well on track to meeting our $300 goal in can returns, so if you've got a cube story sitting in draft hit us with it!

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And of course, a massive thank you to everyone who's submitted, donated or reached out so far. We've had a wonderful time meeting a community that shares our passion for sci fi, sustainablity and cans.

 

Love,

Aluminium Crown Collective x