Robert N Stephenson Flash Fiction & Short Story Competition
2022 COMPETITION ANNOUNCED
The 2022 AHWA Robert N Stephenson Flash Fiction & Short Story Competition will open to submissions from July 30 to October 31, 2022.
We want your best horror story, your very best. This is Australia’s leading unpublished horror fiction competition and our winning entries are always imaginative, engaging, well-written, and bloody scary. We need tales that frighten, yarns that unsettle us in our comfortable homes. All themes in horror will be accepted, from the supernatural classics (zombies, vampires, ghosts), to psychological roller-coaster rides, to the highly original. No previously published entries will be accepted – all tales must be an original work by the author.
As the AHWA’s goal is to support the genre in Australasia, we only accept unsolicited submissions from writers in (or originally from) Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands.
There are two categories for submission:
- Flash Fiction: Stories up to 1000 words in length.
- Short Story: Stories from 1001 to 7500 words.
The winner in each category will receive an engraved plaque, the winning stories will appear in Midnight Echo and receive the pay rate commensurate with that edition.
Entry details
Writers may submit to one or both categories, but entry is limited to one story per author per category. No simultaneous submissions. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Please submit stories individually (i.e. one email for each category you are entering), with the subject line “AHWA Short:” or “AHWA Flash:” and the title of your story, to ahwacompetition@gmail.com. Include author name, membership number (for members entries), contact details, and story word length in the body of the email. DO NOT include your name or any identifying details in the story file. The competition is judged blind.
Please edit your manuscripts thoroughly before sending them through to us. Spelling errors and poor grammar isn’t the kind of horror we’re after!
Judges
We are pleased to announce our panel of judges for 2022
Paul Sheldon (Coordinator)
Bernie Rutkay (Flash)
Claire Fitzpatrick (Flash)
Anthony Ferguson (Flash)
Emma Nayfie (Short)
Daniel Car (Short)
Peter Bowdidge (Short)
Entry fee
AHWA members enter free.
General public: $5 for flash fiction, $10 for short story entries.
Secure payments can be made viaPaypal. In the message field, please write “Comp2022” and the email address used to submit the story as a reference.
Contact the AHWA Competitions Coordinator at ahwacompetition@gmail.com if you have any further questions.
