Competitions
Our current competition details, and past winners.
QWF Writing Competition 2024
Sponsored by
Anna-Marie Chin Architects
We read some incredible writing produced as part of the 2024 competition. Our judges were blown away by the creativity produced within such a short timeframe.
Open Category winners
Read the winning pieces from the Open Category
From Pip: “Thank you so much to everyone who entered. The works were incredibly inventive, well-crafted and thrilling. I think constraints like the ones set in this competition are a gift to us writers. The quick turnaround and tight word count help us quiet any self-doubt and solve problems in new and interesting ways. I hope every writer who entered will set themselves another 48 hour story challenge. Thanks so much to the Queenstown Writers Festival for making space for writers to produce such amazing work. Please keep writing. The world needs your words.”
Winner
Second
liz breslin – it’s about time
Judge’s comment: “it’s about time is an amazing thought experiment of revolution. The act of violence at its core is a meme from our culture and used to such good effect in this howl of rage and hope perfectly fit for our present moment.”
Third
Kahli Scott – Inner Space
Judge’s comment: “Inner Space demonstrates an incredible understanding of economic story-telling. Its themes of love, open-mindness and a true understanding of worth feel hopeful and helpful in this time.”
Highly commended
Camille Khouri – Alternate
Trevor Lloyd – Space Race
Rangatahi Category
The winner of the Rangatahi Category (Year 9 – 13) received $200 and a $100 book voucher. This year it was judged by Dominic Hoey who had this to say:
“The writing in the competition overall was really strong. I wish I could have written that well when I was a teenager! A lot of creative approaches to the prompts, and some great imagery and character development in many of the stories. Congrats to the people who placed and also I want to awhi those who didn’t. Keep writing if that’s your passion. You never know where it’ll take you.”
Winner
the shrug by Mikayla Botting, Year 11, Mount Aspiring College
Judge’s comment: “This story was really well written and immediately grabbed my attention.The writer’s voice was really strong from the first sentence and there is a real maturity to the prose. Writing a story in 600 words that feels complete is no easy task and this author used a creative approach to make the most of the word count. The piece tackles every writer’s worst enemy, procrastination, with some crack up humour.
Second
After this, nothing was ever the same – a change by Avni Batra, Caitlins Area School.
Judge’s comment: “Another well written story. I loved the imagery in this piece. It had a sense of sadness to the prose but never felt melodramatic or overwrought. Not an easy thing to do. The story tackles the concept of home, and feeling of not belonging with such emotion I felt it right in my chest.”
Third
The Burden of a Māori Kid by Rereata Waihirere, Year 12 at Aparima College
Judge’s comment: “Another great piece of writing. Again the imagery and word choice in this story was brilliant. I liked how deftly the author tackled the reality of poverty with a gentle touch. The last sentence of the story is really something:
“And with that, as the sun began to set into the horizon, casting its gold over the landscape, I made a silent vow to carry his story with me, use it as my guide through actions and decisions, and be inspired to bring positive change to a world in desperate need of it.”
Tamariki Category
Read the winning pieces in the Tamariki Category
We had a huge number of entries for this category which was judged by children’s author and novelist, Kyle Mewburn. The winner received $150 and a $50 book voucher. Runners up all received a book voucher for their local bookshop too.
“I was blown away by the creativity and imagination of the entries, and fascinated by all the different approaches to my story starters. The stories took me from coves of lost things to houses coming alive. There was a bear decrying processed meat and a cheeky kea. Plus a handful of impassioned letters that would surely convince aliens to leave Earth alone.
Choosing a winner was a difficult challenge. In the end, I chose stories which displayed a clear point of view and had a strong authorial voice. Stories which burst with imagination and originality both in the plot and the writing.
Congratulations to all the entrants — it was a joy reading your stories. And a special congratulations to the winners.”
Winner
Lorelei by Grace Carlson, Year 8, Tahuna Normal School, Ōtepoti-Dunedin
Judge’s comment: “A spooky, enthralling story, with roots in fairytales and fables, which grips you from the beginning and entices you to follow it — all the way down to the dark basement. The story’s main character is so well drawn, bringing her to life on the page with all her strengths and faults subtly woven through the text.
This story has loads of wonderful imagery and creative turns of phrase — My heart was pounding in my chest like it wanted to escape the jail of my rib cage. My hands trembled; I felt like a toy being played with by my own mind.”
Second
Am I the only one hearing this? by Isobel Eady, Year 8, Arrowtown Primary School
Judge’s comment: “An eerie tale with a wonderful twist. This story has lots of evocative, atmospheric writing that makes the hair on your neck stand up. I especially loved the descriptive passages – The darkness seems to swallow the scarce furniture. “
Third
Sable Schmitz, Year 7, Arrowtown Primary School
Judge’s comment: “A fanciful, imaginative story featuring secret doors into other realms, and a girl facing an ominous destiny. There’s lots of delightful imagery — the bitter wind creeps through the cracks, clutching me like a blanket — and a quirky sense of humour which shines through the story.”
Highly commended:
Survival by Jean Shin, Year 8 at Weston School. “A compelling letter to alien invaders nicely woven into a broader story of survival.”
Spotted Paws by Amelia Claridge, Year 8 at Weston School. “A fun story which neatly captures a child’s response to waking up as a cheetah.”
Was it the right choice? by Toni Guy, Mt Aspiring College. “An emotionally-charged story which builds to a compelling, and tragic, climax.”
Feature in 1964
Our friends over the hill are behind this competition too. You can read the winning piece from the Open Category in the summer issue of Wānaka’s own 1964 mountain culture journal.
Anna-Marie Chin Architects
Writing Competition 2023
This 48-hour writing competition took place over the festival weekend, from 5pm on Friday 10 November to 5pm on Sunday 12 November 2023.
Dozens of stories responding to one of a number of possible writing prompts flew in from all over Otago and Southland. With substantial prizes on offer, it was critical the judging be unbiased – so writers’ names were not on the stories for judging.
You can find the full prompts and the rules on the 2023 competition page.
Click on the story titles to read the winning entry.
Open Category
Judge: Steve Braunias
Winner: ‘Elsie’s Dream’ by Jane Coombs ($500 and publication in 1964 magazine)
Second: ‘Bushbash’ by Trevor Lloyd
Third equal: ‘Carrion’ by Camille Khouri
Third equal: ‘The House on Jeden Street’ by Wayne Martin
Trustees’ Choice: ‘Sasha Was Here’ by Kahli Scott
Rangatahi category
Judge: Michael Bennett
Winner: ‘Three Stars’ by Oshadha Perera ($250 and book voucher)
Tamariki category
Judge: Jane Bloomfield
Winner: ‘The Desk’ by Sayla Ware ($100 and book voucher)
Highly commended:
‘The Room of an Artist and Nature Lover’ by Jasmin Obermoser;
‘The Last One’ by Kate Lim;
‘Arnold the Ghost and the Evaporating Volcano’ by Nia Madden;
‘The Secret Ingredient‘ by Sophie Devlin;
‘Alone’ by Alyssa Hughes.
(Each receives $50 book voucher.)
QWF Short Story Competition 2020
The inaugural Queenstown Writers Festival short story competition drew entries from a wide range of Otago and Southland writers, from young to not so young and novices to published writers. The competition was judged blind – the three experts we invited to make the decisions did not know who wrote each story.
Click on placegetters’ story names to read the story.
Open Category
Judge: Maxine Alterio
Winner: ‘The very bones’ by Liz Breslin, Wanaka
Second: ‘Settling the Score’ by Anne Moir, Dunedin
Third: ‘This is a picture of love’ by Febriani Idrus, Dunedin
Highly commended: ‘Beaufort Wind Scale’ by Gay Buckingham, Dunedin
Highly commended: ‘Dog tired’ by Beverly Martens, Dunedin
Highly commended: ‘Hooked’ by Mike Bown, Waikouaiti
Rangatahi category
Judge: Iona Winter
First: ‘See How They Run’ by Fineen Hingston
Second: ‘What They Were Actually Like’ by Zak Barham
Third: ‘Mr and Mrs Miren’ by Om Alva
Tamariki category
Judge: Jane Bloomfield
First: ‘Killer in the Night’ by Madi Chambers
Second: ‘Life on Mars’ by Sabine Edmonds
Third: ‘Raid of the Lunchboxes’ by Felix Wall
Highly commended:
‘Gremleworths’ by Merry Foster;
‘Café Crisis’ by Nico Pettit;
‘The Silence of the Shark’ by Lorenza Jarvis
