Short Story Competition 2026

Our judges for the competition are Rosemary Riddell and Bridget Auchmuty, assisted by Annie Villiers as Chief Sifter.

ROSEMARY RIDDELL has spent 30 years first as a lawyer and then in 2006 as a judge in the Hamilton District Court. During that time she directed both a short film and a feature film The Insatiable Moon and wrote a book To Be Fair: Confessions of a District Court Judge about her time on the Bench. Since retirement she chairs a Trust offering both writers’ retreats and residency and continues to write a regular column for Tui Motu magazine.

BRIDGET AUCHMUTY lives in the Ida Valley and has been writing poetry and fiction ever since she could hold a pen. She taught fiction and poetry on Creative Writing degree programmes at Nelson and Massey, and her own writing has been published over decades in Aotearoa and overseas. Her poetry collection Unmooring was published in 2020.

ANNIE VILLERS has deep roots in Central Otago. Her published works include two poetry collaborations with Dunedin artist John Z Robinson and a novel. She has had poems and articles published in various magazines and journals both nationally and internationally. She currently lives in Wellington where she's working on a second novel and another poetry project.

The first prize is $2,500, second prize $1,000, and third prize $500.

2026 will be the first year for The Checketts McKay Short Story Competition. Our intention is for the competition to be run annually and provide an opportunity for both budding and established authors.

We do have a theme, albeit very broad. All short stories must have a connection to Central Otago/Queenstown Lakes. This is the region where Checketts McKay is proud to be based and where our people live, work, and play.

How entrants reflect that connection is entirely up to them - we don’t want to constrain creativity in any way!

The Open category is open to all NZ citizens / permanent residents over 18 and currently living in New Zealand.

Entries can be submitted in the Open category from 1 May to July 31. Winners will be announced towards the end of September (dates still to be finalised).

There is a schools category for years 5/6, 7/8, and 9-13, for schools in Central Otago/Queenstown Lakes. Entries in this category are being collected by participating schools. If you want to know more about the schools category, talk to your school principal, year head teacher, or English teacher.

The schools category started at the beginning of Term 2 and closes at the end of Term 2. Winners will be announced during Term 3.

The below applies only to the Open category. Entries must:

• Be no more than 2,500 words (excluding the title and any footers/headers)
• Be typed, in English, using 1.5 spacing and in a font such as Arial, Calibri, Aptos, or Times New Roman.
• Be submitted as a Word document or a PDF, with the file name being the title of the story.
• Not contain the name of the author in the document itself, as entries will be judged anonymously
• Be your own work
• Be an original work of fiction and not have been published elsewhere