Star-Times story comp ‘a stepping stone’
It can be a solitary life, that of a writer: toiling away in the metaphorical dark, unsure how – and if – readers will receive what you’ve penned.
For Michalia Arathimos, winning the Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards last year changed that.
Arathimos took out the open section at the 2016 awards, which are among New Zealand’s most prestigious and established writing prizes, with her story, The Beauty of Mrs Lim.
Entries open today for this year’s short story awards.
Now in its 34th year, the competition has helped to launch the careers of many New Zealand writers including Eleanor Catton, Sarah Laing, Owen Marshall and Barbara Anderson.
The winning entries will be published on Stuff and in the StarTimes and prizes of $3000 for the open section and $500 for the secondary schools section are up for grabs.
For Arathimos, the most invaluable result of the win was the feedback she received from publishing company Penguin Random House, she said.
‘‘It was very thoughtful and very encouraging. It’s always a little bit surreal and amazing when you hear that you’ve won something, because a lot of the time as a writer you’re sort of working in a solitary fashion.’’
Arathimos said the feedback guided her as to how she could get a book of her short stories published.
‘‘When you’re writing you’re not necessarily thinking about the marketing and publishing aspects of the work, so it’s really lovely to get that advice at that particular point.’’
Novelist Stephanie Johnson, one of the co-founders of the Auckland Writers Festival, will judge the open section, while writer Paula Morris, convenor of the Academy of New Zealand Literature and a creative writing teacher, will judge the secondary schools section.
Arathimos, who has just released her first novel, Aukati, said she would encourage any budding writers to enter.
‘‘It’s such a boost to someone’s writing career, it’s a stepping stone. I feel like it’s had the effect of propelling unknown writers into the limelight, and that’s been really positive for New Zealand literature.’’
As to story subjects, writers should be brave and tackle ‘‘the tricky thing’’, she said.
‘‘I think you have to write the thing that is not immediately the most easy thing to write, and often that’s the idea that’s been niggling at the back of your head for a while.’’
Go to stuff.co.nz/ ShortStoryAwards2017 to enter. Entries close on November 3.