All writers of children’s stories aged 18+ are invited to enter the 2021 StoryLinks Short Story competition
Entries should be a short story, maximum of 1000 words, suitable for children of any age up to 15 years old.
Due date for entries is Friday, 2 April 2021.
The shortlist will be announced Saturday, 1 May 2021.
The winner will be announced at the annual Narelle Oliver Children’s Literature Lecture on Thursday evening, 19 May 2021.
The winner will receive $250.00 and their story will be published on the StoryLinks website.
Previous winners
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 must be over 18 years of age Australian residents and include their email address and phone number.
- 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 – 1000 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 must be in this format: ‘Title of the Short Story’ followed by the words ‘StoryLinks Short Story 2021’
- 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 Tuesday 1 February 2021 and closes midnight Friday 2 April 2021.
- 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.
