2010 Competition Details

The 2010 Perilous Adventures Short Story Competition opens on 1 June and closes on August 31. You will be able to enter your short story, in any genre, up to 5000 words. The prizes include a weekend retreat at Olvar Wood Writers Retreat, in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

Entry forms and details will be available on this page from 1 June.

And the winners of the 2009 competition are ...

[Chris Somerville, Kate Cantrell, Sue Pearson & Theresa Layton]

We are delighted to announce the results of the 2009 Perilous Adventures Short Story Competition.

In 2009, we received a strong field of entries from across Australia, in a range of genres. There were so many good entries that it was difficult to select the winners; as judges we were conscious of the difficulties of comparing such diverse works, and conscious, too, of the many excellent stories, and writers, who did not end up on our final list. The entries demonstrated a rich breadth of storytelling talent. There were stories that thrilled us, chilled us and moved us. In the end, we winnowed our selection down to four outstanding entries that demonstrate the diversity of stories and styles we receivedt. The stories we've selected are:

Chasing Grace by Kate Cantrell

The Other Side by Theresa Layton

Knots by Sue Pearson

As Long As You're Here by Chris Somerville

We would like to thank all of our entrants for offering us the opportunity to read your work. We're pleased to have received so many entries. It is a real thrill to see the depth and breadth of writing talent out there, and to be a part of a vibrant short fiction community.

Prizes

As well as having their stories published in Perilous Adventures, the prizewinning authors read from their short stories at the Brisbane Writers Festival on Friday 11 September at 11:15 am, during a panel with acclaimed short fiction authors Cate Kennedy and Stephen Irwin. We'd like to thank both Cate and Stephen for their warmth and generosity during the panel, and for the advice they gave to the many authors who showed up on the day.

All four finalists participated in a free weekend retreat at Olvar Wood Writers Retreat 16-18 October, 2009.

[Chris, Kate, Sue, (nike) & Theresa]