The Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction is a themed fiction competition open to all women, female-identifying and non-binary writers.
The theme of our 2018 competition is ‘Metamorphosis’, with a focus on women’s stories. We’re looking for creative, insightful fiction up to 2000 words that addresses the theme in any way.
Rachel Funari, the namesake of the competition, was Lip’s founding editor. Tragically, Rachel went missing in 2011 while on holiday in Tasmania. We hold this prize in her honour because she was determined to better the lives and opportunities for young women.
Our 2017 winner, Alexandra Philp, had this to say:
“The annual Rachel Funari prize is an essential competition within Australia’s literary landscape. Generously run by Lip Magazine, the prize provides a platform for the voices and experiences of women, female-identifying and non-binary writers, and places value on our stories. Winning the award in 2017 was an incredible honour, and the support I received from the competition facilitators, the judges, and the wider writing community was invaluable to my development as a writer. I urge all eligible writers to submit their stories to this important competition; which is, above all, a celebration of our voices.”
All entries must be:
- Original pieces of writing, up to 2000 words, that engage with the theme
- Previously unpublished, unperformed, and not entered into any other competition
- Written by Australian residents
- Written by women, female-identifying or non-binary writers
*** Entries Close 5pm Friday 20 April, 2018 ***
The Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction 2018 will be judged by Lip’s editors, as well as our panel of esteemed judges: Shastra Deo, Margot McGovern and Briohny Doyle.
Shastra Deo was born in Fiji, raised in Melbourne, and lives in Brisbane. She holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts in Writing and English Literature, First Class Honours and a University Medal in Creative Writing, a Master of Arts in Writing, Editing and Publishing, and is currently completing her PhD in Creative Writing at The University of Queensland. Her first book, The Agonist (UQP 2017), won the 2016 Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize.
Margot McGovern is an Adelaide-based writer who holds a creative writing PhD from Flinders University. Her debut YA novel, Neverland, was shortlisted for the 2015 Text Prize and will be published by Penguin Random House Australia in April. She is a former associate editor of Ride On cycling magazine and has worked as a creative writing tutor and manuscript assessor. Margot has reviewed for several Australian literary journals and blogs at Lectito.me.
Briohny Doyle is the author of the novel The Island Will Sink and the autoethnography Adult Fantasy. Her short fiction, poetry and criticism have appeared in The Lifted Brow, Meanjin, Overland and The Age. She is a lecturer at Deakin University.
This prize is proudly supported by Writer’s Victoria, Wakefield Press, Verandah Literary Journal, Queensland Writers Centre, Pilot Press, Express Media, Books + Publishing, Emerging Writers’ Festival and Scribe Publications.
The winners of the 2018 Prize will be announced during the Emerging Writers’ Festival in June.
FIRST PLACE
– $1000 cash prize
– A 12 month online subscription to Books + Publishing
– A book pack courtesy of Wakefield Press, Verandah Literary Journal, Pilot Press, Express Media and Scribe Publications.
– Publication on our website
SECOND PLACE
– $500 cash prize
– A book pack courtesy of Wakefield Press, Verandah Literary Journal, Pilot Press, Express Media and Scribe Publications.
– Publication on our website
THIRD PLACE
– $250 cash prize
– A book pack courtesy of Wakefield Press, Verandah Literary Journal, Pilot Press, Express Media and Scribe Publications.
– Publication on our website
