OutStanding Short Story Competition 2021 Is Now Open

Australia’s premier creative writing event for the LGBTQI+  community – the OutStanding Short Story Competition – is back for its 2021 edition.

This year’s competition was launched on  June 13 by Alex Greenwich Member for Sydney as part of Sydney Pride.

“Thank you for the vital work that this competition does in letting our community share our stories,” Greenwich said. “Whether they are sad, happy, erotic, humorous, there’s always such a great variety of stories that are told that help represent our community, our challenges and our adventures.”

OutStanding is a truly inclusive competition, free to enter and has prizes of over $3,000 funded by the
community (including 2021 grants from Lesbian Incorporated and in memory of Madeline Shaw).

According to the organisers, the submissions need be 750 words or less and the closing date to submit one’s entry is September 1, 2021. The winners will be announced via Facebook on Sunday, September 26.

The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Ooops!’

“We work hard at getting a theme that somehow captures the mood of the year,” said Robert Tait, one of the OutStanding committee members.

“We noticed people were using Ooops! a lot — it’s whackier than our usual themes but so is 2021! Interestingly, when we researched it we found that Ooops-a-daisy was a music hall term for queer a hundred years ago. It’s lovely to have that resonance but of course writers can interpret it any way they wish.”

For details, including on how to enter the competition, visit the website outstandingstories.net