Short Story Competition 2024

The annual WordFest Short Story Competition is a celebration of local emerging writers and is open to all members of the Monash community over the age of 12. Writers can write to any theme.

There are three categories to enter your story in:

• Category A: 12-14 years
• Category B: 15-17 years
• Category C: 18+

Short Story Competition Prizes

Submit your entry

Short Story Terms and Conditions

Short Story Competition Results 2023

Short Story Competition Terms and Conditions

1. Participants must reside, work or study in the City of Monash, or be a member of the Monash Public Library Service (MPLS). 

2. One entry per person. 

3. The competition will be judged in three sections: Category A: 12-14 years (500 words max) Category B: 15-17 years (1,000 words max) Category C: Adult (2,000 words max) 

4. Exceeding the word limit will result in disqualification. 

5. Entries must be the entrant’s own original work. 

6. Students undertaking VCE may submit VCE writing assignments provided they meet Conditions 1, 2, 3 and 4. 

7. For the purpose of this competition, a short story is defined as: A work of fiction written in prose or narrative format that meets the size limitations outlined in Condition 3. A short story does not include images, poetry, or scripts. 

8. Entries must be typed and in a minimum size 12 font and submitted as a text/word document only (NO PDF or other file formats). 

9. Entries will be judged on content. 

10. Entries must be unpublished, original work of the entrant. By entering, the author warrants that the story was written without the assistance of AI, e.g. ChatGPT or similar. 

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY 

11. Entries must be submitted online unless special permission is given by MPLS. 

12. Competition opens 10am Friday 21 June 2024. 

13. Competition closes 11.59pm Sunday 28 July 2024. 

14. Entries by persons under 18 years of age must be verified by a parent/guardian via the online submission process. 

15. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. 

16. Personal details must NOT be included on the short story document itself otherwise it will be disqualified from the competition. 

17. The City of Monash will assume that it has a non-revocable licence to publish submitted entries in part or full on its websites and in other media UNLESS written notice advising that such a licence is not granted accompanies the entry at the time of submission. 

18. The Monash Public Library Service reserves the right to send promotional information about the competition and other related programs and events up to 12 months after the receipt of the personal details of entrant.  

19. Employees, Councillors, and contractors of the City of Monash, and their immediate families, are not eligible to enter this competition. Immediate family means any of the following: spouse, ex-spouse, de-facto spouse, child or step child (whether natural or by adoption), parent, step parent, grandparent, step grandparent, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, brother, sister, step brother, step sister or first cousin.