The Society of Women Writers Victoria is delighted to announce the winner for the 2022 Margaret Hazzard Short Story Award.
There were a total of 72 entries for the competition this year and each story was read three times by a number of shortlist readers who scored them according to a set of judging criteria. From these scores, the top 8 stories were determined and sent on to judge Keshe Chow.
The shortlisted entries:
- Michael's Mount by Marian Matta
- Never Lou’s Purpose by Bronwyn Boehm
- Down The Home Straight by Carol Middleton
- Do Not Go Gentle by Sumitra Singam
- It’s A Fine (Blue) Line by Sumitra Singam
- Final Accounts by Mary Jones
- A Fresh Outlook by Rebecca Wright
- The Topiary by Alison Knight
The winners of the 2022 Margaret Hazzard Short Story writing competition are:
1st Place 'Do Not Go Gentle' by Sumitra Singam
2nd Place 'The Topiary' by Alison Knight
3rd Place 'Final Accounts' by Mary Jones
Listen to the short story competition place-getters read their winning stories here on youtube. Featuring Sumitra Singham, Alison Knight and Mary Jones.
The competition was judged by the award winning writer Keshe Chow who writes short stories, flash fiction and poetry. Her work is featured in Maudlin House, Rust+Moth, Okay Donkey Magazine, Hobart, and others. She won the Perito Prize for short fiction in 2020, the Yarra Literary Prize in 2021, the Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction in 2021, and the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2022. You can read Keshe's report here and find out why she chose the winning stories. Congratulations to all the shortlisted stories and prize winners. Winning entries and judge's report will be included in the Sparx 2022 edition.
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 and New Zealand (or members residing overseas) are invited to submit short stories of up to 2,000 words on any theme. Closing date was 20th May 2022.