2021 Shortlist
Netty’s Butterflies by Jessica Palmer
Netty’s Butterflies focuses on a young girl’s struggle in dealing with anxious thoughts and feelings. When Netty is asked to a friend’s birthday party, she desperately wants to go, but her anxiety tells her to run away. Using helpful strategies and patterns to manage her anxiety Netty finds the strength to overcome her inner thoughts and fears.
The Cake by Joanna Wisbey
Lots of laughter as we follow the preparations and events in the lead up to and the day of a blended family’s wedding. But what happens when a small guest causes a big incident with the special cake? An enjoyable story told with humour and understanding.
Pigpen Apples by Annaleise Byrd
Abbie plays a trick on her sister Ellie that goes spectacularly awry. Can Abbie fix things on her own as her mother is too engrossed in her reading to help, or is she? A humourous quirky story with an unexpected twist.
The Metal Monster by Danielle Viera
Tobey is entranced when Dad wheels out the old fridge onto the pavement ready to be eaten by the metal monster. He’s dying to see it in action and determines to stay up all night. What happens next could possibly, maybe be real. A charming fantasy adventure for young readers.
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.
