In short, get writing

It’s that time of year again to get your pens out or start typing, as the Peter Carey Short Story Award returns for 2020.
The award is for short stories between 2000 – 3000 words and is open to all Australian residents. The winning entry receives $1000, the runner-up $500.
First and second prized stories will also be published in the Spring 2020 issue of Meanjin. Both stories will receive Meanjin’s standard contributor fee for their work.
This year also sees the return of the Best Local Entry Award, which debuted in 2019.
Writers who enter the Peter Carey Short Story Award and live, work or study in Moorabool Shire are eligible for consideration.
The winning story will receive $250 and have an extract of their story published in The Moorabool News.
This year, longlisted entries will be judged by Elizabeth Tan, a writer from Perth and sessional academic at Curtin University.
Her work has appeared in journals such as Pencilled In, The Lifted Brow, Overland, Westerly, Catapult, and Mascara Literary Review, and in the anthologies The Best Australian Stories 2016, Stories of Perth, and Best Summer Stories.
She was co-editor of the anthology In This Desert, There Were Seeds, a collaboration between WA’s Margaret River Press and Singapore’s Ethos Books.
Elizabeth’s first book, Rubik, has been published in Australia, North America, and the UK. Her second book, Smart Ovens For Lonely People, is forthcoming from Brio.
PCSSA co-organiser Wayne Marshall said the awards are now heading into their fourth year and is “expecting competition to be as fierce as ever.”
“We’re also thrilled at having landed Elizabeth Tan as our head judge,” he said.
With the Local Entry Award now in its second year, following inaugural winner and Ballan resident Bob Carey-Grieve’s touching story ‘Act III’, Mr Marshall encourages Moorabool residents to apply.
“We have such an abundance of writing talent in Moorabool Shire, and we’d love to see more and more stories from local writers,” he said.
“While the PCSSA is an Australia wide competition, we’re also committed to unearthing and encouraging local writing.”
Peter Carey, the namesake of the awards, was born and raised in Bacchus Marsh.
He has won the Miles Franklin three times and the Man Booker twice.
One of his most well-known novels, True History of the Kelly Gang, was recently adapted into a feature film starring Russell Crowe for streaming service Stan.
Submissions open Monday 3 February and close 6pm AEDT on Thursday, 19 March 2020.
Entries will be accepted via online application only and will be judged blind, so no names on your work.
The entry fee is $10 per story and you may enter as many times as you like.
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but let Moorabool Libraries know immediately if your piece has been accepted elsewhere.
The longlist will be posted on the Moorabool Libraries website, while the winner and runner-up will be announced at an awards ceremony held at the Bacchus Marsh Library on Saturday, 13 June 2020.
For more information on the awards and to submit your own work, visit www.moorabool.vic.gov.au/events/2020-peter-carey-award.