Best Australian Yarn: Perth Modern Year 12 student, Till O’Callaghan, wins Youth 15-18 age category prize

A Year 12 student from Perth Modern School has won the $1500 Youth 15-18 age category prize in the second year of The Best Australian Yarn short story competition.

Asked how they were feeling immediately after the announcement at the awards ceremony at WA Museum Boola Bardip on Friday evening, Till O’Callaghan waved their arms in the air and said, “Like a Muppet throwing its hands around and doing ‘aaaaahhhhh!’ Very excited!”

O’Callaghan originally wrote their post-apocalyptic narrative, School’s Out, as a school assignment last year when they were in Year 11 and decided to “polish it up” because it received a score of 80 per cent, which they thought was “pretty good”.

In the story Oscar lives in a barren place where there are no adults. He cares for Anjali, a young girl he saved in a bus accident. It is his 18th birthday and he’s pretty sure he is going to die around 3pm that day, so he has arranged for someone to take over caring for Anjali.

O’Callaghan said they always have stories running in their head and really like the aesthetic of post-apocalyptic stories, but they “don’t like it when it’s stressful such as in Walking Dead.”

“So, I kept thinking about worlds where (…) how could you get to that place where you could just, I don’t know, go into a McDonalds and eat all the ice-cream, (…) or whatever you wanted, and be kind of in that liminal, fun space?

“How would you actually get there? What if all of the adults disappeared, one a day? What would happen then? And then I was like, oh, well, so all the adults suddenly disappeared one day, how would that affect all the kids still there?

“And they would obviously think anyone who reaches 18 might die. What would that do to someone? So, I decided to write that.”

When writing their winning yarn, O’Callaghan took inspiration for the setting from stories they had read, including race-related novels, Jazz by Toni Morrison set in the United States, and Shadow Lines by Stephen Kinnane, based in Australia.

Other influences included the work of Australian artist, author and filmmaker, Shaun Tan, and The Unsleeping City, a season of tabletop role playing game show, Dimension 20, hosted by gamemaster Brennan Mulligan.

O’Callaghan said settings were significant in these works and readers could “really sense” the protagonists’ worlds.

A scary experience in a glass elevator at the State Library of Western Australia also informed the creation of O’Callaghan’s main character, Oscar.

“I think it was exam season – I hadn’t slept very well and then as the elevator went down my brain hit the panic button and it was like ‘Right, we’re gonna cue the credits, you’re gonna die!’, and I was thinking about the people I love and it was all flashing through my head and then I got to the bottom and the ding, and the elevator doors opened and I was like, “What, I’m alright?!”

Winning the Youth 15-18 category prize has given O’Callaghan the confidence to keep writing in the hope of getting something published one day.

“Even if I don’t, (…) a whole world has sort of opened up for things I could do,” they said.

What might they do with the $1500 prize money?

“I don’t know, I’ll be thinking about it for ages, agonizing on how to make the best decision. I’m not sure at all.”

This year’s competition attracted more than 5500 entries across all categories, a significant increase on last year’s contest. Fifteen prizes were awarded, including the $50,000 winner’s cheque and prizes in five sub-categories, including one for those aged 12 to 14 years and another for those aged 15 to 18 years.

Read Till O’Callaghan’s story, School’s Out, here: https://thewest.com.au/genwest/best-australian-yarn/best-australian-yarn-schools-out-by-till-ocallaghan-c-1258844

Read every story in the two top 25 youth categories here: https://thewest.com.au/genwest/best-australian-yarn/the-best-australian-yarn-top-25-stories-in-youth-categories-12-14-and-15-18-revealed-c-12607638

Read about other prize winners here: https://thewest.com.au/lifestyle/best-australian-yarn/best-australian-yarn-2023-all-the-winners-revealed-from-australias-richest-short-story-competition-c-12437123

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Thank you to our sponsors of The Best Australian Yarn’s Youth 12-14 and 15-18 age categories, the Department of Education WA and the Premier’s Reading Challenge.