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Shaw wins Neilma Sidney Prize

Wellington-based writer Jenah Shaw has won Overland‘s Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize for travel-themed short fiction, worth $4000, for her story ‘The Houseguest’—about a woman, ‘new to the city and needing a place to stay’, who becomes ‘a guest in the home of family with no extra room’.

Shaw’s story was chosen from a shortlist of eight and will be published in Overland’s upcoming print edition.

The two runners-up are Elisabeth Passmore for ‘Westernport Crossing’ and Alan Sincic for ‘The Postcard from Nowheresville’. They each receive $500 and publication in Overland online.

Judges Hannah Kent, Joshua Mostafa and Margo Lanagan praised the stories that placed this year as ‘inventive’, ‘evocative’ and ‘incandescent’.

The Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize—supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation, and named after the late Neilma Gantner—is an award for short fiction of up to 3000 words, and is open to writers at any stage of their career. For more information, see the Overland website.

 

Category: Awards Local news