This Australia-wide competition has been run by MAC for about 15 years. The 2009 competition has now been finalised. The prizes ($1500 and $500 for the two winners and $100 for the Tom Donovan Encouragement Award) were announced on Saturday October 31, 2009 at the Mudbrick Pavilion. The event kicked off at 7.30pm and readings of the winning stories were accompanied by the music of John Wilson and Friends (Glen Warren and Rachel Severs with guest appearances from Chloe Scott and Lisa Morrison).

The Mallacoota Arts Council is pleased to announce the results of this year's competition:

Short Story Category (under 2500 words)

The winner in this category was "Country Boy" by Joanne Riccioni of Collaroy, NSW.

Read "Country Boy" here!

The runner up was "In the City of Exiles" by Patrick Holland of Ashgrove, Qld.

Read "In the City of Exiles" here!

Very Short Story Category (under 700 words)

The winner in this category was "The Facts About Jordan" by Jacqueline Winn of Possum Beach, NSW.

Read "The Facts About Jordan" here!

The Tom Donovan Encouragement Award for a Very Short Story went to "The Man Who Cried" by Kylie Hendy of Bendigo, Vic.

Read "The Man Who Cried" here!

Short Listed Stories included:

"Chook" by Penny Lane. Read here!

"Death of a Poet" by Mary Anne Baartz. Read here!

"Yarn" by Tim Lucas. Read here!