A native speaker of Hebrew, Avital Nathani learned English after her arrival in Australia although Yiddish was used at home and in her work. An unpublished story, The Space Invaders, was the winner of the National Science Fiction Convention Short Story Competition in 1977. The Largest Heart was highly commended in the SPACLALS (South Pacific Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies) Short Story Competition held in New Zealand in 1982 and also won second prize in the Maryborough Golden Wattle Festival Competition in 1982. Alexander Beetle gained an honourable mention in the Eaglehawk Dahlia and Arts Festival Literary Competition in 1983, and was also commended in the Kew Festival Short Story Competition in 1983.
