City of Subiaco Council has announced the end of its association with WA children’s author, Craig Silvey, after the 43-year-old was charged with possessing and distributing child exploitation material.
Since 2023, the Council has honoured a young writer with the Craig Silvey Award, widely regarded as the City’s premier youth writing award. The 2025 competition attracted more than 1,180 entries from school students across the State, including submissions from as far as Broome, Narrogin, Pemberton and other regional areas.
In a statement following the author’s arrest, Subiaco Mayor, David McMullen said, “The City of Subiaco’s arrangements for the Young Writers Award are made on an annual basis. The City has no ongoing arrangement with Craig Silvey. Mr Silvey will have no affiliation with the 2026 Young Writers Award.”
Mr Silvey (pictured), who is best known for his award-winning novel ‘Jasper Jones’, was arrested on Monday and remains in custody.
Publishing company, Fremantle Press, has ceased promotion of the author’s book ‘Rhubarb’ while the court process is underway.Â
WA Police executed a search warrant at Mr Silvey’s home in Fremantle, where his electronic devices were confiscated. In court, the police prosecutor alleged Mr Silvey accessed a website where he “discussed his sexual interest with children and distributed child exploitation material to an online user” using the online handle ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy’.
The court also heard Mr Silvey was not fully cooperating with the investigation and had refused to provide pass codes to access his digital devices.
