Past Winners
2024 Results
WINNER
Nothing About Kissing
Author: Kathryn Lomer
2024 Finalists
SECOND
Are You There Margaret? It’s Me, God
Author: Jane Downing
THIRD
Should’ve, Could’ve, Would’ve
Author: Paulette Gittins
Please Note:
Click on the headings below to see lists. Stories are listed in no particular order.
2024 Open Short List
Are You There Margaret? It’s Me, God
Author: Jane Downing
Casino
Author: Elizabeth Walton
Crook Creek
Author: Robert Johnson
E for Eternity
Author: Kathy Sharpe
Herbie and Gerda Bring Cake
Author: Paulette Gittins
Island Fever
Author: Amy St Lawrence
Justice
Author: Rowena Harding-Smith
My Mother
Author: Minh Hien
Nothing about Kissing
Author: Kathryn Lomer
One Man
Author: Lesley Boland
Probe
Author: Christine Fontana
Quarry
Author: Emma Ashmere
Screaming Ears
Author: Thomas Alan
Should‘ve, Could’ve Would’ve
Author: Paulette Gittins
The Bear
Author: Phillip Everett
The Chicken and the Egg
Author: Deborah May
2024 Open Long List
- Going Down Swimming – Janice Barr
- A Very Pretty Wedding – Michael Uniacke
- How The Story Ends – Chris Thompson
- By Any Other Name – Deirdre Caslick
- Cow – Chris Thompson
- The Psychic Tip – Hannah Damcevski
- The Sea’s Unwanted Things – Lee Frank
- The Wanderer – Ben Ellison
- The Day the Pelican Stole My Cap – Emi W
- Alone Time in the Truck – Tom Allen
- Just Below the Surface – Layla Homewood
- Screaming Ears – Thomas Alan
- E for Eternity – Kathy Sharpe
- Lockdown – Kathy Sharpe
- Preserved – Jay McKenzie
- Don’t Forget About Us – Regan Longfield
- Lamb Boy and I – Elisa Trunzo
- After Hours – Sophie Overett
- Quarry – Emma Ashmere
- Running Water – Caileen Cachia
- Less for Murder – Paul Mitchell
- My Name is Ben – Jennifer Curtis
- Crook Creek – Robert Johnson
- The Chicken and the Egg – Deborah May
- Justice – Rowena Harding-Smith
- Probe – Christine Fontana
- Tattoo – Susan Yardley
- My Sweary Neighbour – CJ Garrow
- The Carnivorous River – Cassy Nunan
- Casino – Elizabeth Walton
- Iris – J Anne DeStaic
- Smoke – Susanna Freymark
- If Wishes Were Horses – Coco Stallman
- Bond Girl – CJ Garrow
- Welcome To My Bush Block – Yolanda Ho
- The Welcome – Matthew Crowe
- Cicada – Cindy Wang
- For Injured Wildlife – Chloe Hillary
- Marrow – Meredyth Tamsyn
- One Man – Lesley Boland
- #ModernLove – Philippa Freegard
- Island Fever – Amy St Lawrence
- They Don’t Feel a Thing – Candice Rose
- The Bear – Phillip Everett
- The Reunion – Susan Richardson
- The Pool – Tim Loveday
- Gay Baby – Jonathan O’Brien
- My Mother – Minh Hien
- Nothing about kissing – Kathryn Lomer
- Piranhas in Her Eyes – Vahida Berberovic
- Law of the Tongue – KA Rees
- In Her Hands – Averil Robertson
- The Frogs – Thomas Hickmott
- Lyrebird – Callum Robinson
- Aunt Rose – Abigayle Carmody
- Schrodinger’s Migrant – KT Major
- Satellite – Fiona Marshall
- At the End of the Word – Doug Jacquier
- Sand – Kim Aikman
- Tyger, Tyger – Doug Jacquier
- Hanging Around – Jan Twomey
- The Polly Prank – Alexandria Blaelock
- Are You There Margaret? It’s Me, God – Jane Downing
- The Stream – Kendrea Rhodes
- Winter Spell – Gillian Barnett
- Horse-play – Mali Boller
- Should‘ve, Could’ve Would’ve – Paulette Gittins
- Herbie and Gerda Bring Cake – Paulette Gittins
- Bernice – Patricia Balfour
- What is Culture, Without Memory? – Rachel Weisz
- Slow – Anthony Lynch
- Five Dollars – Anthony Lynch
- The Dam – Damian O’Donnell
- The Journey Home – Atul Joshi
- The Wind Lifts You, it Takes You Forward – Claire Aman
- Things That Are Given Away and When They Return – Mars Landing
- The Track – Peter Arnold-Nott
- A day in the city – Mahli Benjamin
2024 Junior Short Story Finalists
SECOND
A Lady’s Treasure
Author: Malavika Shibu
THIRD
Outsiders
Author: Sean Kelly
Highly Commended
Gabrielle Elford: We are Outcasts
Highly Commended
Alyx Thompson: Ava
Commended
Riann Cabaraban: New Tides
Commended
Joshua Hunter: Three disasters for a wolf
Commended
Olivia Neville: The Willow Child
Commended
Rueben Prouse: Rival Cities
Commended
Samuel Paul: Dishwasher
2024 Youth Short Story Finalists
SECOND
Music to My Ears
Author: Ayra Fatima
THIRD
Heard Below
Author: Felix Jensen
Highly Commended
Tori Pettie: I’ll be All You Need and More
Highly Commended
Jasdeep Kaur: Cross Asian
Highly Commended
Lila Plunkett: The Gulls
Commended
Batul Mgoter: Strawberry Seeds
Commended
Eliza Cowen: My Beloved Ghost and Me
Commended
Cara Pearce: A Life Worth Living
Commended
Khiem Nguyen: The Diner
2024 Youth Poetry Finalists
WINNER
Odyssey to the land of Wonder
Poet: Hannah Bhullar
SECOND
Hometown
Poet: Ali Alkundi
THIRD
Soul’s Eclipse
Poet: Cedric Pang
Highly Commended
Riley Wooster: Biyala
Highly Commended
Poppie Carboon: Citrus
Highly Commended
Felix Walker: Vessel
Highly Commended
Tori Pettie: Forever
Commended
Darcy Mintern: A Window of Solace
Commended
Bellamy Church: Crumbling
Commended
Tori Pettie: I Love You; Isn’t that Enough?
2024 Junior Poetry Finalists
Equal Second
For Future’s Sake
Poet: Milo Rose
My Bruised Legs
Poet: Errol Rose
THIRD
Worn out Boots
Poet: Errol Rose
Highly Commended
Errol Rose: All the Morning Spent Swimming
Highly Commended
Amelia Castles: Norfolk Island
Commended
Malavika Shibu: Grow
Commended
Coen Pang: Bushfire
Commended
Saeesha Golhar: Happiness
Commended
Saeesha Golhar: Spring
2023 Results
WINNER
Away To Me
Author: Jen Rewell
2023 Finalists
SECOND
The Drey
Author: Eugenie Pusenjak
THIRD
The Lucky Country
Author: Natalie Vella
Please Note:
Click on the headings below to see lists. Stories are listed in no particular order.
2023 Open Short List
Animal Farm
Author: KA Rees
Ardberg
Author: Morris Bryant
Away To Me
Author: Jen Rewell
Cockroach Kids
Author: Olivia Wolfe
The Scheherazade Machine
Author: Frank Russo
Homecoming
Author: Peter Arnold-Nott
Mixtape Diary
Author: Amy St Lawrence
Nineteen Miles
Author: Allyson Hose
Once Was a Tyrant
Author: Christian Fennell
Panic Strap
Author: Claire Aman
Pascal’s Pots
Author: Andrew Nest
The Drey
Author: Eugenie Pusenjak
The Lucky Country
Author: Natalie Vella
The Queen of Sheba
Author: Alison Killick
Time Capsule
Author: Deborah May
Under Construction
Author: Michael-John Scallan
2023 Open Long List
- Bite Back – Erminia Villani
- See You Next Tuesday – Adeline Teoh
- Jon Burrower’s Birds – Patrick Arulanandam
- Time Capsule – Deborah May
- The Palace of Memories – Kerrin O’Sullivan
- Moonlighting – Kathy Sharpe
- The Lucky Country – Natalie Vella
- The Fishing Competition – Holly Cardamone
- The Setting Sun – Penni Giuliani
- The Magpie – Kathryn Thacker
- Rabbits – Susan Yardley
- Rani’s Nachos – Geetha Pathanjali
- SPIRALLING IN STREAM C: Slow days in the Newstart Alcove. – Dominic Gordon
- Utopia 50mg – Sean Crawley
- The World’s Best Lamington – Donna Elkins
- Nineteen Miles – Allyson Hose
- Animal Farm – KA Rees
- The Drey – Eugenie Pusenjak
- It’s Always The Sea – Deborah Huff-Horwood
- A Post-Pandemic Australia – Sandra Jones
- The Preferred Place – Maryanne Graham
- Mixtape Diary – Amy St Lawrence
- Unexplained Anxiety for Consideration – Meredyth Tamsyn
- Eusebio – Meredyth Tamsyn
- The Clearing Sale – Xavier Duff
- A Car and a Screwdriver – Nathan Power
- The Knowing
- Plucked – Ola Kwintowski
- Charlie – Odette Des Forges
- The Snake – Sally Bothroyd
- reincarnate – grace garnett
- Pascal’s Pots – Andrew Nest
- Captain Amundsen’s Secret – Stephen Dando-Collins
- A Dinky-di Dilemma – james hughes
- Big Country, Cowboy – Alaina Dean
- Vegemite on Toast – Andrew Brown
- Remnants – Kate Maxwell
- Found – Julie Twohig
- Like A Cork – Sharon Kernot
- The Queen of Sheba – Alison Killick
- A Cut Below – Douglas Coster
- Away To Me – Jen Rewell
- Yarra – Lincoln McAlister
- Brink – Robert Johnson
- The Dither Fish – Gabriel Cornell
- The Scheherazade Machine – Frank Russo
- He’s out there – Katy Knighton
- Fatso and Bluey – Barry Rosenberg
- Cockroach Kids – Olivia Wolfe
- Flotsam and Jetsam – Georgia White
- The Caretaker’s Cottage – Karen Hamilton
- Homecoming – Peter Arnold-Nott
- A Metal, Cold and Useless Thing. – Eliza Henry-Jones
- The Need to Be Needed – Jim Brigginshaw
- seagull – Janet Fuller
- A Tale of Two Sauces – Gregory McKittrick
- Pluck a Duck – Candice Rose
- A Boy, A Girl, and a Beach – craig duckmanton
- Midsummer Daydream – Jane Downing
- Panic Strap – claire aman
- Ardberg – Mars Landing
- Warren – Greg Foyster
- Mother of God – Sue Osborne
- Cold against porcelain – Kristy Marshall
- Fault lines – Maree Badgery-Parker
- The Lagoon – Keith Johnson
- The Scar Tattoo – Harold Legaspi
- Alpine – Tug Dumbly
- Under Construction – Michael-John Scallan
- Once Was a Tyrant – Christian Fennell
- Hole in the Earth / Cakes – John Potts
- The Knowing – Chris Corbett
2022 Results
2022 Open Results
WINNER
Art and Life
Author: Cate Kennedy
SECOND
The Drey
Author: Eugenie Pusenjak
THIRD
The Lucky Country
Author: Natalie Vella
2022 Youth & Junior Results
Junior Short Story Finalists
WINNER
Colour
Author: Lila Plunkett
Highly Commended
A Cats Journey: Maddelyn Fletcher
Youth Short Story Finalists
WINNER
The Taliban
Author: Layla O’Callaghan
Youth Poetry
Finalists
WINNER
Intergenerational rot-out kitchen
Poet: Dorothy Lune
Junior Poetry
Finalists
WINNER
A Sea of White
Poet: Riley Wooster
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