Gaby Dias’ wins gold in Girl of the Year in London
Gabriella (Gaby) Dias and mum Wendy are exhausted but exhilarated. It’s only a few hours since they touched down in Sydney after a whirlwind trip to London, where Gaby was presented with an award by the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson.
Gaby, at just 12, won gold (first prize) in Women in Literature—Girl of the Year in the global Women Changing the World Awards 2025 for writing nine books in the Light of Luna series. The awards celebrate and recognise women and girls who are leading change across various fields, including literature.
Gaby, who was also a finalist in the Children’s Books award category, was excited to meet the Duchess, one of the award’s ambassadors, along with humanitarian and author Tererai Trent, and had already written a letter to the Duchess in advance and sent her copies of her books (four have been published).
“She’s amazing,” gushes Gaby. “It was really cool because I got to spend 10 minutes with the Duchess.” Gaby was honoured to be a finalist, but winning a gold award was a bonus. “I was just hoping,” says Gaby. “And winning gold was amazing, I was very surprised.”
The Duchess presented the delighted young writer with a trophy of an angel standing on a purple pedestal and a framed copy of a letter to Gaby.
Always an avid reader, Gaby began writing the Light of Luna fantasy series at the age of eight when a school assignment ignited her passion for storytelling.
“It started when my Year Two teacher told the class to write a story,” explains Gaby. “Everyone started (writing) and then dropped it, but I kept going. My story got bigger and bigger and became a book, which then became lots of books. As my story grew and my characters became deeper, more human to me, they inspired me to keep writing.”
Proud mum Wendy has always encouraged Gaby’s writing. She said she saw a shift in Gaby’s energy when she came home from school in Year Two, motivated to write.
“She got so excited and started writing,” recalls Wendy. “We hauled out our old laptop, boosted up Word for her, taught her how to use it, and she finished nine manuscripts before she was ten. She’s done incredibly well, and it’s been wonderful to have a front-row seat to it all.”
Wendy says she wanted Gaby to have something tangible to hold in her hand, so they self-published the first four manuscripts and are working towards publishing the remaining five in the Light of Luna series. “If a publishing deal comes along that would be amazing,’ Gaby says. ‘But if not, we’ll continue to self-publish.’
With a TikTok account that has reached over 2.3 million views, Gaby is sharing her journey and encouraging others to follow their creative dreams.
“I believe my books connect young readers to a world of fantasy, showing them what’s possible by sharing my message: if I can write a book, so can they,” Gaby says.
Despite the jetlag, Gaby is keen to get back to school – she’s in Year Seven at Northern Beaches Christian School – and share her London stories with her friends. As for what’s next for the young writer, she’s got a few things in progress, and we can’t wait to see what she does next!
