Peter Carey Short Story Award 2021

Moorabool Shire Libraries and local writers Jem Tyley-Miller and Wayne Marshall are proud to announce the 2021 Peter Carey Short Story Award. Born and raised in Bacchus Marsh, Peter Carey is arguably Australia’s greatest living writer. The author of fourteen critically acclaimed novels and four works of non-fiction, Carey has won the Miles Franklin three times, and the Man Booker twice. Early in his career Carey published two short story collections of rare and startling power—The Fat Man in History and War Crimes—both of which remain, forty years on, unrivalled in their mastery of the short story form. It seems only natural to name this award after one of Moorabool’s (and Australia’s) most gifted and imaginative storytellers.

The award is for short stories between 2000 - 3000 words, and is open to all Australian residents.

Longlisted entries will be judged by Laurie Steed. Laurie is the author of the 2018 WA Premier’s Book Awards Shortlisted novel You Belong Here and the editor of Shibboleth and other stories. His short fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in Best Australian Stories, Award Winning Australian Writing, The Age, Meanjin, Westerly, Island and elsewhere. He won the Patricia Hackett Prize for Fiction in 2012, is the recipient of fellowships from The University of Iowa, The Baltic Writing Residency, The Elizabeth Kostova Foundation, and The Katharine Susannah Prichard Foundation, and most recently won the 2021 Henry Handel Richardson Flagship Fellowship for short story writing from Varuna - The National Writers' House. He lives in Perth, Western Australia.

The winning entry receives $2000, while the runner-up wins $1000. First and second prized stories will also be published in the Spring 2021 issue of Meanjin. Both stories will receive Meanjin’s standard contributor fee for their work.

In 2021, we will also be presenting one outstanding entry with the Moorabool Shire Libraries’ Best Local Entry Award. Writers who enter the Peter Carey Short Story Award and who live, work or study in Moorabool Shire are eligible for consideration. The winning story will receive $500 and have an extract of their story published in The Moorabool News.

Submissions open Monday February 1^st  and close 6pm AEDT on Thursday March 18^th 2021. Entries will be accepted via online application only and will be judged blind, so please, no names on your work. The entry fee is $15 per story and you may enter as many times as you like. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know immediately if your piece has been accepted elsewhere. See our Terms & Conditions for further details.

The longlist will be posted on our website in late May, while the winner and runner-up will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Bacchus Marsh library on Saturday June 12^th 2021.

Good luck to everyone. We can’t wait to read your stories.

Peter Carey Short Story Award 2021 Terms and Conditions

1. Applicants must be 18 or over and be residents of Australia.
2. To be eligible for the Best Local Entry Award, entrants must live, work or study in Moorabool Shire. When submitting your work, please select the Best Local Entry box on the entry form to be considered. The organisers have the right to request proof or residence, club membership or enrolment in a local educational facility before announcing the winner of this award.
3. Work must be between 2000 and 3000 words.
4. Please use 12pt. Times New Roman, double spaced with 2.5cm margins
5. Applications must be submitted online; hard copy submissions will not be accepted.
6. Applications will be judged anonymously. Please don't include your name in the attachment.
7. Entries will be independently judged. The judges' decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
8. First and second prize entries will be published in the Spring 2021 issue of Meanjin and agreement for publication is a condition of entry.
9. An extract from the Best Local Entry Award will appear in The Moorabool News and agreement for publication is a condition of entry.
10. Previously published, accepted for publication by a recognised publisher, or prize-winning stories will not be accepted. (Previous online or print appearance constitutes prior publication.) (Please note: this does not include community publications, local independent publications or blogs. If your piece has been published in such a publication you are still eligible to enter the competition.)
11. Entry is to be paid via the website and is $15 per story.
12. Multiple entries and simultaneous submissions are fine.
13. We are unable to accept entries or notify entrants that do not follow entry guidelines.