The Margaret Hazzard Short Story Competition is now closed for 2026, results will be posted here, check back here for the latest news.
Judge: Melanie Cheng
Prizes: 1st $350.00. 2nd $200.00. 3rd $100.00.
Fees: For SWW Victoria members: 1 story $10.00 or 3 stories $20.00
For non-members: 1 story $15.00 or 3 stories $30.00
Winning stories will be published in the Society’s anthology, Sparx.
Copyright remains with the author.
About our judge:
Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner based in Naarm, Melbourne. Her short story collection, Australia Day, won the 2018 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for fiction. Her short stories have been featured in Meanjin, The Griffith Review, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue and World Literature Today, among many others. Her novel, Room for a Stranger was longlisted for the 2020 Miles Franklin award and her latest work, The Burrow, was shortlisted for numerous prizes including the Stella Prize, The Age Book for the Year and the Australian Book Industry Awards. She has been a judge for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and the NSW Literary Awards. She is a guest lecturer for the Narrative Medicine Course at the University of Melbourne and a mentor with the Kill Your Darlings Mentors Program.
Background to the award:
In 1970, Margaret Hazzard gathered together fourteen women – journalists, authors, playwrights, illustrators, contributors of articles paid for by newspapers or magazines, and TV and radio writers – to form a Victorian branch of the Society of Women Writers.
In recognition of Margaret’s commitment to women writers and support of SWWV, the Margaret Hazzard Short Story Award was established.
The competition runs biennially and women writers residing in Australia (or members residing overseas) are invited to submit short stories of up to 2,000 words on any theme.