Thank you to all who submitted their short story in October 2017.

We extend our thanks to the judges, Donna Mazza, Brooke Dunnell, and Omar Sakr, and editor Ryan O’Neill for their collective patience and insight during the selection process.

Editor, Ryan O’Neill had this to say:

“I’d like to offer my warmest congratulations to all the writers on the shortlist. It was a pleasure and a privilege to read their work. From the realist to the surreal, from stories of grief to stories of transformation, the shortlist is a clear demonstration that the shorty story in Australia is alive and well.”

17 short stories were selected from a highly competitive number of submissions. Congratulations to Andrew Roff, who took out first place with his short story Pigface, Cassie Hamer’s short story Habitat won second place, and Tiffany Hastie’s short story The Chopping Block won the Southwest Prize. Of the 17 stories chosen, seven were written by Victorian writers, four from Western Australia, three from New South Wales, two from Queensland and one (the winning story) from South Australia.

2018 SHORT STORY SHORTLIST

Jessica ANDREATTA – Ring Pull Art

Judith BRIDGE – Foodies

Abigayle CARMODY – No Harm Done

Zoe DELEUIL – Setting Sail

Penny GIBSON – Small Fish

Ashley GOLDBERG – Soap

Cassie HAMER – Habitat  *Second Prize*

Tiffany HASTIE – The Chopping Block  *Southwest Prize*

Tee LINDEN – Bounds

Miranda LUBY – The Sea Dragon

Helen, RICHARDSON – On Either Side  

Fiona ROBERTSON – Descent

Sue ROBERTSON – Le Micocoulier de Provence

Andrew ROFF – Pigface  *First Prize*

Kit SCRIVEN – The Fate of Angels

Warwick SPRAWSON – Cracked Head

David Thomas Henry WRIGHT – Living with Walruses

About Ryan O’Neill: Ryan is a lecturer at the University of Newcastle. His novel, Their Brilliant Careers won the 2017 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction.

About Donna Mazza: Donna is a senior lecturer at Edith Cowen University. She was awarded the TAG Hungerford Award for her novel The Albanian.

About Brooke Dunnell: Brooke is a Perth-born short story writer whose work has twice featured in Best Australian Stories. She has been published in Westerly, Meanjin, and :etchingsmelb, and a number of short story collections.

About Omar Sakr: Omar is a poet and editor. His debut poetry collection, These Wild Houses, was published in 2017.