2021 Theme: Courage…
First prize $250AU Hawkeye Publishing Gift Voucher + anthology cover based on the winner’s story.
Short-Listed and Long-Listed announced.
TOP 40 published in an anthology – free copy to all published entrants.
Best 5 Junior – The top 5 under 18 entries are also published, with the Junior Winner receiving a free copy of the writing guide: Winning Short Story Competitions. All 5 juniors receive a free copy of the anthology and a group mentoring session with Hawkeye Publishing’s Director.
(Sponsorship Opportunities Available – Contact Carolyn)
Closes 6PM Sunday 1st August 2021
Maximum 1,000 words
Theme: Courage…
$12AU entry
We’re looking for jolly good tales. Show us the positive. The growth. The light-hearted. The heart-warming. The gut-wrenchingly beautiful. Sadness can feature, but we’re looking for evolution in the mix.
Critical thinking, humour, difference will be highly regarded.
The theme COURAGE… is expansive, allowing for imaginations to run wild. If you’re unsure where to start, here are some prompts to get you started. You may write of, for example, about life choices made by an individual, a group, or a government. It can be a fictional tale or a fictional tale inspired by a true story. Your character might reflect on how choices made by others affected their own life, or how they are gripped with indecision as they face a life altering situation and how they will reflect on their decision in the future. The possibilities are endless. These are just a few suggestions and we look forward to reading your stories and seeing where your mind takes you.
Judges are looking for the following:
Read this feature from the 2020 competition for notes from the judges on what made the published 40 stand out from the field.
Judges :
L. E. Daniels – Bestselling author, writing teacher, and editor with over 90 published books to her editing portfolio.
C T Mitchell – Bestselling international mystery crime writer.
Kylie Kaden – a thrilling voice in Australian Domestic Noir. Her second book Missing You was nominated People’s Choice Awards 2015.
Carolyn Martinez – Director, Hawkeye Publishing + Editor + Author.
Prize Pool :
Best 5 Junior – The top 5 under 18 entries are also published, with the Junior Winner receiving a free copy of the writing guide: Winning Short Story Competitions. All 5 juniors receive a free copy of the anthology and a group mentoring session with Hawkeye Publishing’s Director.
Shortlisted (Top 10), Longlisted (11-40), and Best 5 Junior finalists names published on.
Judges can’t wait to read your stories!
Read about last year’s long listed here.
See last year’s anthology, Reset, here. The theme for 2020 was If Only.
We recommend Winning Short Story Competitions as an essential writing guide. Competition judges L. E. Daniels and C. Sawyer show what it takes to win, short-list and long-list in competitions. Short list and long list credits are just as beneficial to a writer’s career, as wins are.
Hawkeye Publishing extends a huge thank you to our Gold Sponsors of the inaugural prize in 2019, Tony and Christine Hammond (Sydney Hammond’s son and daughter-in-law), for enabling the winner’s cash prize, the printing of the 40 anthologies for the Top 40, and the cover design for the book!
And Karen & Shane Traversari – silver sponsors – we thank you, thank you.
Hawkeye Publishing extends a big thank you to Lynette Hammond (Sydney Hammond’s daughter) and Silvana Nagl for sponsoring proofreading services!
