StoryLinks Short Story Competition 2021
For children in Grades 4 – 6

Write a short story 500-1000 words
Any subject
The story must be fiction and all your own work.
The story must meet the conditions of entry
and follow the guidelines published on the website.
The winner will receive $100
and have their story published on the Story Links website.
Deadline: 17 September
Shortlist announced: 18 October
Winner announced: 1 November

Make sure you read the conditions and guidelines before you enter.

Terms and Conditions of Entry

• The competition is open to all children living in Australia.
• Competition closes midnight 17 September 2021.
• The entry should be 500 – 1000 words.
• All entries must be submitted online via the submission form.
• It must be the child’s own original work.
  Note: all entries will be checked for plagiarism.
• Entries should not have won any other competition at the time of entry and should not have been published in any form.
• 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.
• Copyright remains with the author with first publication rights to Story Links.
• Failure to abide by the rules will result in an entry being rejected.
• Submission acknowledges that information relating to this competition has been read, that it is understood, and all conditions are met.
• The judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.

Instructions

• Save the story with a file name that is the same as the story. If the story is called “Out of this world” then the document should be named “Out of this world.pdf”
• Stories should be saved as a PDF and not word or image files.
• Each page should be numbered with the author and title in a header.
• Entries should be in Times New Roman at 12 point double spaced.

Submit the entry via this online form.

Guidelines

• The story should have a clear structure of beginning, middle and end.
• Stories should not be sectioned into chapters – stories requiring chapters are not short stories.

What the judge looks for

• Ideas – creativity, imagination, originality, or sophistication
• Expression – wide range of accurately used vocabulary, fluently expressed sentences, range of sentence patterns, rhythm, flow
• Structure – tightly controlled structure showing a clear beginning, middle and end with connections within and across the text. Open ended stories are OK but no “to be continued” or “I woke up and it was all a dream”
• Grammar, spelling, punctuation, paragraphing should follow conventions or could be used creatively if it works within the story.

Enquiries: email competitions-children@booklinks.org.au

My Checklist

• • My file is saved as a pdf
  • File name is the same as my story
  • It is between 500 and 1000 words
  • Each page is numbered with the title in the header
  • It is in Times New Roman at 12 point double spaced

__________________________________________

Winner announced for the 2020 Young Writers Competition

The winner will receive $100 and have their story published on the StoryLinks website.

The winner is Leonard Cavallaro for Gratitude. Read the story.

This was announced at 3 pm on Sunday 1 November during an Australia Reads session online via ZOOM.
The shortlisted stories were read aloud. You can view the recording here on our YouTube Channel.

SHORT LIST

Congratulations to the following:

The Cookie That Could – Sara Allen

Gratitude – Leonard Cavallaro

Hope – Aaron Ding

The Pumpkin Puzzle – Matilda Rogers

The Mysterious Pen – Chrissy Zhang

Highly Commended: In no particular order.

Soar by Elijah Kenning; Pumpkin Pot by Monish Panyam; The Willow Tree by Aaron Ding; Slothi and the Mud Cake by Ryan Rupake; When the Sky Falls by Sienna Wilkinson; The Scar by Ayansa Nemdini De Silva; Eyes of Doom by Ky-An Vu; Hospital Check Up by Ameliana Scholl; Restart by Ayla  Usman; Maisie’s Journey by Maia Heron.

Children in Grades 4, 5 and  6 were invited to write a short story of between 1000 and 1500 words – on any subject.

The winner will receive $100 and have their story published on the StoryLinks website.

IMPORTANT DATES

Entries due by 9 OCTOBER 2020
Shortlist announced 19 OCTOBER 2020
Winner announced 1 NOVEMBER

The winner was announced at 3 pm on Sunday 1 November during Australia Reads
at a free public session online via ZOOM.

The best stories entered were read aloud. You can view the recording here on our YouTube Channel.