ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

'Aokigahara' by Jennifer Down

Jolley Prize 2014 (Winner)
by •
September 2014, no. 364
ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

'Aokigahara' by Jennifer Down

Jolley Prize 2014 (Winner)
by •
September 2014, no. 364

I phoned my father when I arrived.

He said ‘Your mum’s just round at Aunty El’s’ in such a way that I knew she wasn’t; that she’d left the room with her hand to her mouth when he’d first said hullo, love, and I felt so sorry for us all.

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Jennifer Down

Jennifer Down is a writer, editor and translator. Her work has been published in Overland, the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and ABC’s The Drum. Her novel Our Magic Hour was shortlisted for the 2014 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, and will be published by Text in 2016.

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Comments (2)

  • Jennifer Down, your writing style is incredible, there's a raw vulnerability to it . Each sentence holds a deliberate weight and the story you've conjured is frighteningly beautiful. The characters felt scarily real and present. I was invested from beginning to end. Congratulations on your big win, I'm so happy to have stumbled across this! - Best wishes to you and your future fiction works to come :)
    Posted by Jaye Bowden
    01 March 2016
  • Ms. Down, I have just read your winning entry. I'm a nonfiction writer, but I enjoy reading both fiction and non. It helps me as a writer to taste all manner of writing.

    I am in awe of your story, and your technique. Thank you for submitting this work. I am better for having read it.
    Posted by David W. Jones
    06 March 2015

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