All writers of children’s stories aged 18+ are invited to enter the 2022 StoryLinks Short Story competition

Entries should be a short story, maximum of 1500 words, suitable for children of any age up to 15 years old. NB this is an increase from last year.
Due date for entries is Sunday, 17 April 2022 (extended from 3 April).
The shortlist will be announced Saturday, 30 April 2022.

The art of the short story is alive and well. We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for this year’s short story competition for writers aged 18+. This year we had a record 43 entries from which the judges chose four stories to shortlist.

2022 Shortlist

The Pop Girls by Meredith Downes

Queenie’s Jiggly-Jolly Holiday by Marian McGuinness

The Quitzgibbons by Angie Schiavone  (withdrawn)

The Secret Keeper by Bec Timmis

The winner will be announced at the annual Narelle Oliver Children’s Literature Lecture on Thursday evening, 26 May 2022.
The winner will receive $250.00, and they will be invited to have their story published on StoryLinks website.

Previous Winners  

2021: The Cake by Joanna Wisbey

2020: Mindy is Strange by Desmond Doyle

2019: The Microscope by Genevieve Young

2018: Tuck Shop Takeover by Combat Dad by Debbie Smith

Terms and conditions of entry: Please read carefully. Failure to comply may result in your entry being disqualified.

• Entrants may enter as many stories as they like provided they have never been published before. Each entry must be entered separately with a separate email.
• Maximum number of words – 1500 words.
• Submissions should be emailed to: storylinks@booklinks.org.au
• All entries must be submitted in an email attachment as a word document or PDF. No other format will be accepted.
• The subject line of the email must be in this format: ‘Title of the Short Story’ followed by the words ‘StoryLinks Short Story 2022’
• The body of the email should list: Name of author, Title of entry, Word count, Contact Details & email address.
• Each page should be numbered with the title in a header. Author details must not appear on these pages.
• Entries should be in Times New Roman at 12 point double spaced.
• Entries should not have won any other competition at the time of entry and should not have been published in any form.
• Entries must be the original work of the author and submission acknowledges that information relating to this competition has been read, that it is understood, and all conditions are met.
• Entries that have been submitted to this competition previously should not be resubmitted.
• The judge/s reserve the right to not award prize money if none of the entries fulfill all set criteria, and/or do not meet the quality sought by the judging panel.
• Competition opens 1 February 2022 and closes midnight Sunday 3 April 2022.
• Copyright remains with the author with first publication rights to StoryLinks.
• Failure to abide by the rules will result in an entry being rejected.
• The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

Happy Writing