14th annual Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award

Closing date: 23 September

First prize: $600. The winning story plus runners-up will be published in the ACT Writers Centre newsletter, ACTWrite, as well as on the website over the months following the announcement. Certificates and book prizes will also be awarded to runners-up.

The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award was established by Don McInnis to commemorate the life of his wife, a short story writer who lived in Canberra and passed away on 25 September 1997. The Award is administered by the ACT Writers Centre.

Judge

Nigel Featherstone is the author of over 40 published short stories with work appearing in Australian literary journals such as Meanjin, Island and Overland. He has had two collections of short fiction published – Homelife (1999) and Joy (2000). Since 2007 Nigel has been a freelance writer for Panorama, the arts magazine of The Canberra Times. He is the author of the 2005 novel Remnants. His novella, Fall on me, will be published by Blemish Books in September 2011.

Conditions of entry

• Entries must be between 1500-3000 words.
• The award will be for an emerging writer (ie without a novel or collection of short stories published or accepted for publication by a publisher with national distribution, at the closing date for submissions to the award).
• Entries must not have been previously published or won a prize in another competition.
• The author must reside permanently within the ACT or region (which covers the shires of Young, Harden, Gundagai, Tumut, Boorowa, Yass Valley, Upper Lachlan, Goulburn, Mulwaree, Wingecarribee, Palerang, Greater Queanbeyan, Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla, Bega Valley, Bombala, Cooma Monaro, and Snowy River).
• Entries should be typed, single spaced on A4 paper, one side only.
• Limit of one entry per person.
• Entries should be postmarked on or before 24 September 2011. Hand deliveries are accepted.
• Entry fees should accompany submissions. Please do not send cash through the mail.
• An entry fee of $5 for ACT Writers Centre members and $7.50 for non-members applies. Please be very sure about your membership status before you apply. An incorrect entry fee will render your entry invalid.
• No names are to appear on the manuscript. All entries should be accompanied by either an entry form or a separate sheet which contains the entrants contact details and a signed declaration of the following sentence: ‘this entry is entirely my original work and I reside permanently in the ACT region’. If paying online, the payment form constitutes an entry form.
• The winners will be announced and the prizes awarded at the ACT Writers Centre Christmas party in December.

Entries in the Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award are now accepted by email. To submit, attach your entry to an email with 'Short Story Award' as the subject and your name and the title of your entry in the main body and send it to: admin(at)actwriters.org.au

Payment can be made by credit card over the phone on 6262 9191 or via PayPal/credit card online at www.actwriters.org.au/awards/award-payment-form.shtml

If you wish to submit your entry in hard copy, please complete the entry form (.pdf) and send it with your entry to:

Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award
ACT Writers Centre
Gorman House Arts Centre
55 Ainslie Avenue
Braddon ACT 2612