From the English-Speaking Union (Queensland Branch)
Seven writers have been recognised for the quality of their work in the 14th Roly Sussex Short Story Competition, established and sponsored by the Queensland Branch of the English-Speaking Union.
They include a winner and runner-up in each of the School and Open divisions and 3 authors receiving a judges’ commendation.
Total prize money across the competition was $10,500.
The winner of the Open Division was Western Australian author Serena Moss with The apology factory, a humorous but poignant takedown of what happens when spin mixes with remorse. Serena won prize money of $7,500.
The runner-up was Queensland author Natalie Sprite with Watersong, an account of a musical debut overlaid on a family loss. Natalie won prize money of $1,500.
The judges also commended 2 authors: Queenslander Gil Liddle for The colours of sand, which tracks a relationship to its tragic end, at the same time telling the story of K’gari, the world’s largest sand island; and New South Wales author Jay McKenzie for Douce sirène, a story about the cruelty of personal power.
The separately judged Secondary School Division was won by Charlotte Serisier (Brisbane) with Flies, a gothic mystery set around an outback Australian roadhouse. Charlotte won prize money of $1,000.
The runner-up was Tara Moghbelpour (Gold Coast) with Sirens, also a mystery, set around a car wreck with no sign of a victim. Tara won prize money of $500.
Judges in that section also commended the work of Emily Smith (Brisbane) with The final stitch, the story of an extraordinary newspaper obituary writer.
These stories were selected from a shortlist of 10 stories in each of the 2 divisions. The total field included 123 entries in the Open Division and 78 in the School Division.
Shortlisted entries in the Open Division
- Watersong – Natalie Sprite (Queensland)
- The Mistress Stone – Paulette Gittins (Victoria)
- Never truly said goodbye – (Jennifer) Tangqing Zhang (Queensland)
- The colours of sand – Gil Liddle (Queensland)
- Douce sirène – Jay McKenzie (New South Wales)
- Head on – Chris Thompson (Victoria)
- The sideboard – Amy Montague (Victoria)
- The apology factory – Serena Moss (Western Australia)
- An inevitable fracture – Kit Scriven (Victoria)
- Mycah – Roxena Bidgood (Queensland)
Shortlisted entries in the Secondary School Division
- To rot, to renew – Valerie Yu (Brisbane, Qld)
- Flies – Charlotte Serisier (Brisbane, Qld)
- The final stitch – Emily Smith (Brisbane, Qld)
- The last translation – Sophia Sanson-Male (Toowoomba, Qld)
- The bus stop – U-juan Mendoza (Mossman, Qld)
- The bust of Helissia – Finley Greig-Byrne (Tamborine Mountain, Qld)
- Sirens – Tara Moghbelpour (Gold Coast, Qld)
- Som – Calder Higham (Toowoomba, Qld)
- Shaking off the dust – Nicholas Taylor (Gold Coast, Qld)
- Loved to pieces – Charlotte Bright (Brisbane, Qld)
Chair of the 2 judging panels, David Fagan, said there was a noticeable improvement in quality across both competitions as writers focused on the craft of short story writing, particularly the need to be on point while quickly drawing the reader into a fictional world. Judges for the Open Division, alongside David, were Kerry Davies AE (a member of Editors Queensland) and Erica Fryberg. For the School Division, chief judge Brian Clarke (also a member of Editors Queensland) worked with Talisa Pariss-Proby and Georgie Steele.
The ESU has published the first- and second-placed stories in the Open and Secondary School divisions on its website, along with the judges’ comments on these stories, as well as those receiving judges’ commendations.
The ESU’s Queensland Branch started the awards in 2012 to encourage short story writing and to honour the work of IPEd patron Emeritus Professor Roly Sussex, a leading Australian linguist and frequent media commentator on language.
Of this year’s competition, Roly said all the winning entries were, without reservation, excellent and memorable.
“This year’s entries have an intensity which I haven’t seen before,” he said. “I am more chuffed than I can express to have my name associated with work of such clear quality, character and excellence.”
The ESU’s 2025 administrator of the award and chair of the competition committee, Despina Cook, said, “Each year, this competition reminds us of the enduring power of the short story, which the ESU has promoted since 2012. I congratulate all writers who entrust us with their work. It is a privilege to have led the ESU’s competition in 2025.”
Despina was the 2024 winner of the IPEd Student Prize.