Mayor's Short Story Writing Awards 2025

Thank you for your entries. We received a record number of submissions - more than doubling the total last year!

Entries are currently in the final judging process. The shortlist was announced on Monday 28 July.

All shortlisted writers will be invited to an Awards Ceremony on September 12 where the winners will be announced.

The Shire presents the fifth year of the Mayor’s Short Story Writing Awards and invites local emerging writers aged 8 and up to enter.

The Awards aim to encourage and support Mornington Peninsula writers of all abilities, celebrate our diverse talent, and showcase local stories and voices.

The judging panel comprises notable writers Barry Reynolds, Else Fitzgerald, Monica Dux, Sam-Ellen Bound and Coral Vass.

We are excited to partner with Western Port Writes Literary Festival this year for our Shortlist Committee for 18+ entries.

Shortlist Announcement

Thank you to everyone for submitting your stories. The shortlisters were overwhelmed by the talent and breadth of themes. Below you will find the shortlist for all three categories.

Congratulations to all shortlisted writers!

Winners will be announced at an Awards Ceremony on September 12. All shortlisted writers will be invited.

8-12 Years

‘The woods’ by Mieke K

‘The Adventures of Snappy the Crocodile' by Finn D

‘Secrets in the basement’ by Fleur A

‘A Breath of Hope’ by Kira B

‘Tickle me, terror’ by Luke W

‘Rain or Hail’ by Jaime H

‘What’s left behind’ by Raya P

‘A Person Unknown’ by Maya L

‘Fallen Gums’ by Miles G

‘The White Tiger’ by Ben B

13-17 Years

‘The Last Morning’ by Tayah W

‘Boiled Eggs’ by Renee K

‘The Things We Carry’ by Mieka C

‘The Birth of the Hyacinth Flower’ by Chloe K

‘And Naked I Will Depart’ by Fergus C

‘The Levy of a Mouse’ by Ruby W

‘Love Etched in Stone’ by Jaidah R

‘Untitled’ by Ada D

‘The Allure of the Inevitable’ by Ava L

‘For Shadows and Flame’ by Sophie M-M

18+ Years

‘Blessing’ by Joanne Dowell

‘Ward 54’ by Georgia Lynch

‘The Wreckage’ by Steph Pannach

‘Nest’ by Sascha Elk

‘The Borers’ by Suzi Mezei

‘Encounter’ by A. Barend Frielink

‘A Grave in the Mountains’ by Mattias Mazza

‘Drought’ by Patricia MacLeod

‘A Marin Brink Tale: Sick Dreamings’ by Kristy-Lee Gyoerffy

‘The Grove’ by Nikki Reid

‘Let’s Call Him Luke’ by Jackie Bos

Award categories and prizes

8-12 Years judged by author Coral Vass

500-word limit/ short creative fiction only
$500 prize and bookstore voucher
Story published in MP Magazine

13-17 Years judged by Samantha-Ellen Bound

1000-word limit/ short creative fiction only
$500 prize and bookstore voucher
Story published in MP Magazine

18+ Years judged by Barry Reynolds, Else Fitzgerald & Monica Dux

2000-word limit/ short creative fiction only
$1000 prize, bookstore voucher and two-week Police Point Artist Residency
Story published in MP Magazine

The Shire is proudly funding the prize money and the residency at Police Point, while bookstore vouchers have been generously donated by local businesses including Antipodes Bookshop & Gallery, Farrells Bookshop, Petersen’s Bookstore and Rosebud Book Barn.

Meet the judges

8-12 Judge

Coral Vass is an award-winning children’s author, presenter, editor and reviewer. With a background in Media, Coral has more than 25 published children’s books. Many of her books have appeared on ABCTV’s Playschool, UK’s Story Den on Milkshake TV, Storytime with Fergie and Friends, as well as on Australia’s StoryBox Library. Coral is an ambassador for Reading Out of Poverty and is passionate about giving all children an equal opportunity to read.

13-17 Judge

Samantha-Ellen Bound is a children's author, editor and podcast host who lives on the Surf Coast. From humble beginnings writing Goosebumps rip-offs, she now has many years experience working with books in all areas of the industry. Sam-Ellen has been published in literary journals and shortlisted for short story awards, including most recently the Geelong Writers Prize. She has been shortlisted for the Vogel Prize and a recipient of a May Gibbs Creative Time Fellowship. Her current work is the epic folklore-inspired middle grade series, Seven Wherewithal Way.

18+ Judges

Else Fitzgerald’s writing has appeared in various publications including Australian Book Review, Meanjin, The Suburban Review, The Guardian and Award Winning Australian Writing. Her collection of short fiction, Everything Feels Like the End of the World, won the 2019 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers and was published by Allen & Unwin in 2022. Everything Feels Like the End of the World was shortlisted for the 2022 Aurealis Awards and the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards.

Monica Dux is a writer and commentator. She is the author of two memoirs: Lapsed: losing your religion is harder than it looks (HarperCollins ABC Books, 2021) and Things I Didn’t Expect (when I was expecting) (MUP, 2013). She is the co-author of The Great Feminist Denial (MUP, 2008) and editor of the anthology Mothermorphosis (MUP, 2015). Monica was a founding board member of the Stella Prize and the Feminist Writers Festival. From 2013 until 2022 she was a columnist for The Saturday Age. She is currently working on a third memoir and doing a PhD in Creative Practice at RMIT.

Barry Reynolds is a freelance journalist and writer whose work has been published in the Australian Book Review, The Australian, the Melbourne Herald Sun (where he was books editor and a senior sub-editor), as well as in London newspapers. He has written numerous stories on authors including Garry Disher, Gerald Murnane, Helen Garner, Jock Serong, Rodney Hall, Susan Orlean and Lynda La Plante, among many others. In London he wrote about travel, food, wine and walking, while in his early career he won awards for his stories on basketball.