Published 14 August 2026
Attention entrants, families, teachers, and lovers of literature!
Help celebrate this year's entrants and the winners of the 2026 History's Mysteries Young Writers Competition at the Bunbury Museum and Heritage Centre.
Date: Thursday 10 September 2025
Time: 6pm - 8pm
Everyone is welcome to this free event. Please RSVP for catering purposes. If all delegated tickets are taken, don't despair! Please phone the museum on 9792 7284 to notify us of your attendance.
Thank you to Southern Ports Bunbury for proudly sponsoring the prizes.
About the Competition:
Bringing history to the forefront, the History's Mysteries Young Writers Competition challenges students to imagine the history behind a selection of significant museum artefacts and tell it in a short story.
150 years ago, a group of Irish political prisoners – sent to Western Australia as convicts on life sentences for treason against the British Government – escaped from Fremantle prison following elaborate planning by sympathisers to their cause.
The escape involved international espionage, fundraising, a whaling barque named the Catalpa and a good dose of daring.
This year's History’s Mysteries Young Writers Competition asks young writers to step inside the life of a West Australian convict planning their great escape.
The competition is for local young authors in Year 5 to Year 12.
Established in 2022, this competition program was the winner of an Interpretation, Learning & Audience Engagement award at the 2023 Australian Museums and Galleries National Conference.
