ABR is delighted to announce Madelaine Lucas as the overall winner of the 2018 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story ‘Ruins’. Madelaine Lucas receives $7,000.
Sharmini Aphrodite was placed second for her story 'Between the Mountain and the Sea' and Claire Aman placed third for her story 'Vasco'. We would like to congratulate all three shortlisted entrants and thank all those who entered their stories in the Jolley Prize.
This year the prestigious ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize Prize attracted almost 1,200 entries from around the world. The 2018 Jolley Prize is worth a total of $12,500, with a first prize of $7,000 and supplementary prizes of $2,000 and $1,000. The judges were Patrick Allington, Michelle Cahill, and Beejay Silcox. The three shortlisted stories appear in our August issue.
The judges also commended three other stories: ‘Joan Mercer’s Fertile Head’ by S.J. Finn (Vic.), ‘Hardflip’ by Mirandi Riwoe (QLD), and ‘Break Character’ by Chloe Wilson (Vic.). The commended authors each receive $850 and their stories will appear online in coming months.
About the 2018 Jolley Prize shortlisted authors
Claire Aman (photograph by Ravi Watt-Nersesian), Sharmini Aphrodite (photograph by Verkur), Madelaine Lucas
Claire Aman grew up in Melbourne and settled in Grafton, New South Wales.Text published her short story collection, Bird Country, in 2017. Her stories have been published in Australian journals and anthologies and have won the E.J. Brady, Wet Ink and Hal Porter prizes. In 2011 her story ‘Milk Tray’ was shortlisted for the Jolley Prize. Her early writing life was nurtured by Varuna.
Sharmini Aphrodite was born in Borneo in 1995 and grew up in the sister cities of Singapore and Johor Bahru. Previously published in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and Smokelong Quarterly, she was runner-up for her art criticism in Frieze Magazine’s Art Writing Prize, as well as in the Golden Point Awards.
Madelaine Lucas is an Australian writer and musician based in Brooklyn,New York. She is the senior editor of NOON literary annual and a teaching fellow at Columbia University, where she is completing her MFA in fiction. She has been the winner of the Overland/Victoria University Short Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the Griffith University Josephine Ulrick Literature Prize. She is currently at work on her first novel.
The 2018 Jolley Prize longlist
‘Hoofman’ by Tiffany Allan (New Zealand)
‘Vasco’ by Claire Aman (NSW) – Shortlisted
‘Between the Mountain and the Sea’ Sharmini Aphrodite (Singapore) – Shortlisted
‘La selva obscura’ by Faye Brinsmead (ACT)
‘The Great Explorer has never seen anything equal to this land in his life’ by Craig Cormick (ACT)
‘Katterzems’ by Joel Ephraims (NSW)
‘Joan Mercer's Fertile Head’ by S.J. Finn (Vic.) – Commended
‘Zohira’ by Michelle Hamadache (NSW)
‘Ruins’ by Madelaine Lucas (NSW/USA) – Winner
‘The Art of Waving’ by Andrea Macleod (QLD)
‘Hardflip’ by Mirandi Riwoe (QLD) – Commended
‘Find Me This Place’ by Ben Walter (Tas.)
‘Break Character’ by Chloe Wilson (Vic.) – Commended
‘All We Need to See’ by Michelle Wright (Vic.)
Please read the Frequently Asked Questions page before contacting us with queries about the Jolley Prize.
Click here for more information about past winners and to read their stories
ABR gratefully acknowledges Mr Ian Dickson's generous support for the Jolley Prize.