Peter Carey Short Story Award 2018

2018 Peter Carey Short Story Award 

Moorabool Shire Council along with local writers Jem Tyley-Miller and Wayne Marshall are proud to announce the 2018 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 Jane Rawson, author of the novels A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists and From the Wreck, as well as the Seizure Viva La Novella Prize-winning Formaldehyde. Rawson’s short fiction has been published widely, in places such as Overland, Sleepers Almanac, Griffith Review, and Best Australian Comedy Writing. Rawson’s weird and wonderful fictions, emotionally charged and endlessly inventive, make her a perfect judge for this award.

The winning entry receives $1000, while the runner-up wins $500. First and second prized stories will also be published in the Spring 2018 issue of Meanjin. Both stories will receive Meanjin's standard contributor fee for their work. An extract from the winning story will also appear in The Moorabool News.

Submissions open Thursday 1st February and close at 6.00pm AEDT on Monday 26 March, 2018. Entries will be accepted via online application only and will be judged blind, so please, no names on your work. The entry fee is $10 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 and Conditions for further details.

The longlist will be posted on our website in early May, while the winner and runner-up will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Bacchus Marsh library on Saturday 2nd June, 2018.

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

                     Jane Rawson

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