And the winner is...

We received 200 stories this year from writers all around the country. A big thank you goes to everyone who entered, making this such a rich competition.  Congratulations to all the entrants who made the shortlist, and a big congratulations to this year’s winners:

>  First place: The Newswatchers by Hei Gou

>  Second place: Things to Do Before You Die by Alison Gibbs

>  Third place: Fires for the Dead by Gayle Marien

2022 AlburyCity Short Story Award shortlist

• Sudden Stops are Sometimes Necessary by Jane Turner Goldsmith, Belair, SA
• The Newswatchers by Hei Gou, Leichhardt, NSW
• Fires for the Dead by Gayle Marien, Wonthaggi, VIC
• Things to Do Before You Die by Alison Gibbs, Ashbury, NSW
• Helgardten by Stephen McKenzie, Glenelg North, SA
• The Mural by Clare Fletcher, Summer Hill, NSW
• Kintsugi by Alison Richards, Magill, SA
• Record of Correspondence by Michelle Haines Thomas, Robertson, NSW
• Periphery by Ann Dombroski, Sydney, NSW
• The Whistle Blower by Donna Cameron, Hardys Bay, NSW
• Secession by Gay Lynch, Bentleigh East, VIC
• Motherland by Zeynab Gamieldien, Sydney, NSW
• Marne Street by Kerry Jewell, Richmond, VIC

Click on the links above to read the winning entries. Go to the WAM YouTube channel to hear short story judge, Margaret Hickey, discuss the winning stories and Hei Gou reading an excerpt from their story, The Newswatchers.