The Feast short story completion attracted a strong field and we were delighted with the numbers. The stories covered a range of subjects: falling in love, rites of passage, casual sex vs. friendship, living with HIV, being trans in a country town; and included every genre from realism to futuristic fantasy and whimsy.

The winning stories were distinguished by the clarity of their themes and their ability to manage ideas within the confines of the word length. The characters were interesting, evoking feelings that resonated for the judges. They were edited and polished to a high standard.

We look forward to reading more next year.  It’s heartening to know there is so much good queer writing.

The winners are:

Over-30 Winner: Stephen House with ‘In My Pup Tent’

Over-30 Highly Commended: Tanya Vavilova with ‘Carpark’

Over-30 Highly Commended: Jenny Toune with ‘Cull’

Under-30 Co-Winner: Jaimee Hart with ‘How Do We Rewrite the Stars’

Under-30 Co-Winner: Jamila Main with ‘Butterfly Kicks’

Under-30 Highly Commended: Patrick Forrest with ‘Lucky Felix’