History
'This award is a Long Story competition run by Spineless Wonders. They are a publishing company devoted to short, quality fiction by Australian writers. Their primary focus is on digital publishing, although they do supplement this with print publications as well.
'The competition is open to female writers and must be between 4,000 and 10,000 words. The first prize is $500, and the winner and shortlisted stories will be considered for inclusion in the Spineless Wonders Long Shorts e-series. There is an entry fee of $20 and the closing date is the 31st of August.' (Source: http://www.nmit.edu.au/blogs/bwap/2012/08/16/the-carmel-bird-short-fiction-award-2012/ )
Latest Winners / Recipients
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Year: 2021
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Year: 2020
winner y
Apologia
Strawberry Hills
:
Spineless Wonders
,
2020
21186103
2020
selected work
short story
'Apologia is a collection of stories threaded by the themes of loss and displacement. Each piece captures a tumultuous moment in time, and is grounded in the psychological journey of how people deal with their own traumas and fears. Though this collection is host to an array of completely different and individually captivating stories, Arathimos has succeeded in binding them through the depth of human connection and portrayal of raw human pain, both mental and physical. A truly inspiring collection of work, each piece will leave you with a better understanding of the hidden sufferings humans endure in their daily lives.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
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Year: 2019
winner y
Grub and Other Short Stories
Strawberry Hills
:
Spineless Wonders
,
2019
17319201
2019
selected work
short story
'Grub brings its focus to those things we don’t see, to the people on the edges of society who might be a little “grubby”. Its setting is Sydney’s inner west, in a not-too-distant future, where the looming concerns of today (like climate change and capitalism) have come to pass, and subsistence is commonplace. They range from light-hearted, such as ‘Grub’, where an obsession to cleanliness is taken to extremes, to much darker. In ‘Carpark’, a young queer boy is beaten up, watched by a couple from the safety of their apartment, and ‘Whipped Cream’ is a Handmaid’s Tale-type dystopia, with references to breeding and silver vans. Peopled with odd individuals, Grub examines our humanity (and sometimes, lack of) in extreme circumstances.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
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Year: 2018
winner y
The Age of Fibs and Other Short Stories
Strawberry Hills
:
Spineless Wonders
,
2018
14975987
2018
selected work
short story
'A collection that crosses boundaries of genre and time; meditating on history, memory, representation and desire. A ten year old visits her brother in hospital across a state border after a car accident; growing up in the age of Fibs bras and the rise and fall of the Whitlam government; the cast of Fatal Attraction let loose on the streets of Newtown; a montage of romance, dating advice and a teenage girl’s exploration of desire; a band of tourists visit Uluru; a man struggles for control of his life story; and a memoir using photographs reinventing relationships and belonging.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
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Year: 2015
winner The Turn 2016 single work short story crime
— Appears in: Crime Scenes : Stories 2016; (p. 7-23)
