Winner is ‘a moving, memorable story’

A Greek immigrant grandmother and a trip to a long-abandoned railway tunnel provided inspiration for the winners of this year’s Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards.

Open category winner Michalia Arathimos, pictured, has a PhD in creative writing and her work has been published in several New Zealand anthologies, journals and magazines. Her debut novel Aukati is due out next May.

Judge Stephanie Johnson says Arathimos’ winning entry, The Beauty of Mrs Lim, ‘‘does everything a short story should do and more’’, describing it as ‘‘a moving, memorable story by a writer of considerable skill’’.

Based in Melbourne with her partner and two sons aged five years and eight months old, Arathimos’ main character is based on her grandmother, who immigrated to Wellington in the 1950s.

‘‘My grandmother had an amazingly happy marriage actually, but she came from such a traditional setting that I always sort of had in my mind, what if you don’t like the person you end up with when you’re in that kind of setting?’’ says Arathimos. ‘‘What if you love people you’re not meant to love?

‘‘This story for me was a way of representing voices that are usually invisible – in New Zealand culture particularly.’’

Arathimos’ submission was indicative of the quality of this year’s entries, says Johnson.

‘‘Without doubt the entries this year surpass the others. There is a... high standard of excellence, which altogether proves that the art of the short story is alive and well in New Zealand.’’

Praise is also due to the secondary school category winner, 16-year-old Joanna Li from Diocesan School for Girls.

Li’s Vietnam War story Karangahake was ‘‘fluent and accomplished’’ according to judge Paula Morris.