It is with great pleasure that we can now announce the short listed stories from our 2016 Story Quest Short Story Contest, and the winners:

• First Prize (US$100): ‘Old Growth’ by J. Ashley Smith
• Second Prize (US$50): ‘Of Dreaming and Destiny’ by Jamie Lackey
• Third Prize (US$25): ‘Pevel Was Here’ by Michael Stroh
• Three other short listed stories which will also be published in SQ Mag:
  • ‘Reef’ by Kat Clay
  • ‘The Skull Collector’ by Jodi L. Milner
  • ‘My Son, the Afterbirth’ by Tony Conaway

The field was particularly strong this year, with a very sizeable percentage of stories scoring above ‘good’ by the judges. Nevertheless, these six stories were clear standouts and well deserve their prizes and/or publication in SQ Mag.

This year’s contest had the theme of ‘Growth’: What is it that denotes life? What do we yearn for in our favourite narratives, when we see how our favourite character could achieve their dreams if only they might extended themselves, shift and change. We believe this intriguing theme helped draw out some fascinating and moving stories.

Special thanks to Lee Murray for being our guest judge, and apologies to contestants and other interested parties for such a late judging process. Also thanks to IFWG Publishing Australia for their ongoing support and sponsorship of the contest.