Folly Journal Splits $1,000 Prize Between Australian and New Zealand Writers After Panel Deadlock
Folly Journal Splits $1,000 Prize Between Australian and New Zealand Writers After Panel Deadlock
Folly Journal is splitting its annual $1,000 Folly Prize between two writers whose work caused division between the international reading panel and the Wellington Writers’ Studio.
The 2025 prize winners are Katy Knighton of Australia and Katya Raju of New Zealand.
Raju’s story, Waiting and waiting, is grounded in social realism. It is about a young woman navigating workplace racism ("Indians don't have dogs") and seeking validation through digital intimacy.
‘I wrote this piece thinking about the stories I’d tell my university friends about work, and how they’d share similar ones from the shitty minimum wage jobs they worked,’ says Raju. ‘I also kept thinking about Updike’s A&P, and what that kind of story might look like from a brown Zoomer.’
The decision to split the prize came after Katy Knighton’s story of satirical absurdism, about a town obsessed with teenage masturbation, generated such polarised responses that editors placed it on the desk at Wellington Writers' Studio for a week, inviting feedback from local writers.
‘Some people thought it was a work of genius, exploring moral panic, societal hypocrisy and how communities navigate youth sexuality. Others thought it was dreadful and that we’d be cancelled,’ says Editor Emily Broadmore. ‘One person left a note on it simply 'Why?' Another person sent us three laugh-cry emoji.’
Broadmore says Knighton, who won the Sorrento creative writing prize in 2024, achieved a well-executed escalating absurdity and community dynamics. ‘It’s provocative,’ says Broadmore, ‘But it is exactly the kind of story that makes people argue about what literature should do - provoke or comfort, challenge or entertain.’
While Knighton’s piece required virtually no editorial intervention, Raju's story entered the journal's mentoring programme and underwent collaborative development over several weeks.
‘We've always said we're not looking for the most polished pieces,’ says Broadmore. ‘Knighton’s story arrived fully formed but divisive, Katya’s arrived promising and raw. ‘The split prize reflects our commitment to supporting both provocative established work and promising new talent.
Both winning stories will be published in the journal's upcoming issue.
About Folly Journal
The Folly Journal is an independent international recognised literary publication based in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is committed to finding stories that spark conversation and challenge expectations. The journal operates on the principle that literature should provoke rather than placate.