Amanda lohrey selects brochure

‘a pleasure to read’ —Amanda Lohrey

NEW digital stories from SPINELESSWONDERS

The Carmel Bird Award

This Award was established in 2011 by Spineless Wonders, a publishing company specialising in short Australian stories. It is named after one of Australia’s leading authors of short stories, editor, creative writing teacher and long-time advocate of short fiction in all its forms.

‘Competitions such as this have always been very important to new writers,’ says Carmel Bird. ‘They give a time-frame. They provide a kind of excitement and hope. They give the story a destination and a validation.’

Each year, winners and finalists are offered monetary prizes and the opportunity to be published in print, digital or audio platforms. Every two years, the award takes the form of a short story competition with stories by the winner and finalists published in an anthology. The first of these anthologies, Escape, features stories by invited authors as well as those selected by judge, Sophie Cunningham.

Every second year, the entry conditions of the award vary in terms of word length, theme or entrant profile.

Women’s Long Stories

In 2012, The Carmel Bird Award took the form of a long story competition for works between 4,000 to 10,000 words and was open to women writers only. Our judge was Amanda Lohrey, the recent recipient of the Patrick White Literary Award. The ten longlisted authors will be published as Amanda Lohrey Selects, a series of digital eSingles.

Why choose the long form?

‘The long form appeals to me as a slow and searching reader. Short stories can leave me wanting more, and novels demand an investment of time they don’t always repay. As a writer, I can venture into complexity without the long story consuming years of my life.’ Sue Booker, finalist ‘One of the special charms of a long story is the opportunity to maintain a concentrated gaze on a particular aspect while having enough space to flesh out characters. I can work within the boundaries of a single metaphor and hope a reader will make connections over the whole story. As a reader I love the myriad snapshots which such stories provide.’ Marian Matta, finalist ‘The form is more fluid and allows greater depth in terms of plot and character development. As a reader, I enjoy immersing myself in a story but I also like finishing it in one sitting. The long story form satisfies both of those aspects. ‘ Joanna Atherfold Finn, finalist

‘Most of the time a long story is the only kind of short story I like! I find it a really hard ask as a reader to do all the brain work of entering the reality of a fictional world, only to be rudely turfed out again after two or three thousand words—which seems to be the length Australian serial publishing wants to support.’ Belinda Rule, finalist

Do we need women-only awards?

Spineless Wonders acknowledges the inequalities experienced by women writers in the Australian literary scene and supports recent efforts by the many commentators and organisations, particularly The Stella Prize, which is working to raise the profile of women writers and their writing.

Our decision to designate the 2012 Carmel Bird Award for women writers only has been part of that effort.

‘A culture is built on its fictional narratives as much as anything, so we need more female story-tellers!’ Sue Goldstiver, finalist ‘Australia has been blessed with a long tradition of brilliant women writers like Christina Stead, Miles Franklin, Elizabeth Harrower, Ruth Park, Thea Astley and so many others. I feel buoyed by the example of these women who so passionately explored their creative dreams, our nation’s psyche, pressing social issues and more global concerns.

Reading their work, and of their courage despite setbacks, helps me to keep putting pen to paper even when I feel like I’m banging my head against the walls of my loft and struggling to express myself. It’s great that The Carmel Bird Long Story Award can provide encouragement to women like me to keep writing and connecting deeply with the issues of our times.’ Marjorie Lewis-Jones, finalist

What do Australian women write about?

‘Sometimes it seems like women writers are expected to tell women’s stories, and women’s stories only. The most important question for a woman writer when deciding on subject matter should be what inspires her. ‘Erin Gough, finalist ‘The generalisation that women’s writing is no different from men’s ignores the obvious: that the themes and the concerns in women’s writing can sometimes differ from men’s concerns. The ideal would be the validation of the vitality of these themes, not through isolation and exclusion but on the level and open field of all writing.’ E. Ratnam Keese, finalist —Thanks go to all of the entrants, to our judge, Amanda Lohrey and to Carmel Bird and Marion Halligan for their ongoing support.

Bronwyn Mehan & Linda Godfrey

SpinelessWonders

Felicity Volk What inspired this story?

What effect does being without sexual intimacy have on our sense of identity? Exploring this question through the experience of a retired nun, Berenice, this story is also about the compromise required to sustain relationships when the people we love move beyond our reach, and the grace necessary to send them forth, with or without us.

Felicity Volk The recipient of fellowships from the Eleanor Dark Foundation and an ACT Government grant, Felicity Volk has written awardwinning short stories.

Her novel, Lightning, will be published by Picador in June 2013.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

E. Ratnam Keese What inspired this story?

Based on an actual event— conflict over the demolition and installation of a fence between two properties—what inspired me was the theme that finally emerged: that to love is to be supportive. This philosophy is demonstrated on different levels: between each of the two couples; between the two women, and between man and landscape.

E. Ratnam Keese She is a visual artist and writer.

In 2012, she was shortlisted for the Calibre Prize for Outstanding Essay for Mapping the Edges of the Night .

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Amanda O’Callaghan What inspired this story?

Small parts of it are autobiographical. I was an over-imaginative child, or a tragedy-centric child, so I was always conjuring up fears and disasters.

The deliberate poisoning of aboriginal people—grew out of a conversation I had with my mother, who could remember her own parents talking about similar murders in their region.

Amanda O’Callaghan She is a Brisbane-born writer.

A former advertising executive, she has a BA and an MA in English from King’s College London.

She has a PhD in English from the University of Queensland, where she is an Honorary Research Adviser.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Sue Booker What inspired this story?

All I knew was that a stranger would hassle the narrator for walking his dog in the wrong place, and that despite clashing values they’d be mutually attracted.

Exploring how Westerners treat their pets vs. creatures they like to eat, gave that initial impulse momentum.

Sue Booker Her short fiction has appeared in Meanjin, Escape (Spineless Wonders), Regime and Encounters: Modern Australian Short Stories.

Her long fiction has attracted mentorships from the ASA and Varuna. She is currently exploring in-between-length fiction.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Marian Matta What inspired this story?

Although Danny is a composite character and his situation and actions arose from my imagination, I was moved to write his story because of the personal circumstances of a friend of mine. I wanted readers to see the world through Danny’s eyes rather than bringing their preconceived ideas to bear.

Marian Matta After decades of writing whatever was needed, from medical articles to film scripts, Marian Matta— grandmother, history tragic and circus student—is finally tackling the short story format.

She lives in the hills outside Melbourne.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Belinda Rule What inspired this story?

Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping is about a child living in a barren situation who ultimately decides to become homeless.

It brought up for me a difficult time in my young life when I was living with a dangerous person, and engaging in a kind of guerrilla warfare to stay out of this person’s clutches.

Belinda Rule She lives in Melbourne, where she studies creative writing at one university, and makes websites for another.

Some of the places her work has appeared are Meanjin, Eureka Street, Visible Ink and Best Australian Poems 2012.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Erin Gough What inspired this story?

I met a seemingly ordinary sort of person who mentioned how he liked to drive up the freeway of a Saturday with a group of mates and jump off the top of a cliff. I’d never heard of BASE jumping before then but after this conversation I kept hearing about it. I met a couple of other people who had done it, and I saw a lot of news stories about people who had died as a result of it.

Erin Gough Her award-winning short stories have been published in a number of journals and collections, including Southerly, Overland, Small Wonder, Going Down Swinging and Best Australian Stories 2012.

She is currently writing a novel for young adults.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Sue Goldstiver What inspired this story?

I was staying in a deserted unit block on the Gold Coast and it began to feel increasingly isolated, and eerie.

At night, I’d sit down to write with lightning flashing onto black water out to sea, and the story of a missing girl emerged.

Sue Goldstiver She recently completed a Master’s program in Arts and Media at Griffith University in Queensland.

Her dissertation explored the use of Gothic tropes in Australian literary works, indulging a long-term fascination with a genre that peeks behind the façade.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Joanna Atherfold Finn What inspired this story?

The story has an autobiographical dimension so it was inspired to a degree by life events (yes, I was sent to a book parade dressed as a Gumble).

It is also a creative response to the idea that wherever you go, you take yourself with you. I was motivated by my interest in the interplay between past and present and exploring characters slightly unhinged by the flux in their lives.

Joanna Atherfold Finn writes and teaches in Port Stephens.

She has had short stories and articles published in anthologies and journals.

She received the University Medal in English and is currently completing a creative writing PhD at the University of Newcastle.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Joanna Atherfold Finn What inspired this story?

I’ve always been curious about surface pretentions. This story was inspired by my interest in contrasting the façade and constraint of a gated housing estate with the freedom and ambiguity of the coastline. The main character is trapped in an illusory life, but the idea of breaking through boundaries is progressively expanded and the coast ultimately represents renewal and transformation.

Joanna Atherfold Finn writes and teaches in Port Stephens.

She has had short stories and articles published in anthologies and journals.

She received the University Medal in English and is currently completing a creative writing PhD at the University of Newcastle.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Marjorie Lewis-Jones What inspired this story?

A sliver of moon was enough to catapult me into the world of gentle giant Orley who runs one of those old-style caravan parks in a scraggly, wannabe resort town called Desmond.

His wife is sick and his daughter is rebelling so he’s struggling with loss—fearing it, trying to control it and ward it off. Love and fear lie coiled together in the heart of this character. It’s universal, isn’t it?

Marjorie Lewis-Jones She is a Sydney-based writer, editor and poet.

She works in publishing and media management, has run creative writing and journalism workshops and is a voracious reader and reviewer with eclectic tastes.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Claire Corbett What inspired this story?

I’d been working in the Cabinet Office. It was a unique and intensely hierarchical workplace and I wanted to capture the sense of intrigue and behindthe-scenes machinations before my deep understanding of it faded. The other inspiration was a café I visited in northern NSW that had once been a bank. The words scribbled on the vault door struck me and I used some of them.

Claire Corbett She is a doctoral candidate at University of Western Sydney.

When We Have Wings, (Allen & Unwin) was shortlisted in 2012 for the Barbara Jefferis Award and for the 2012 Ned Kelly Award.

Her essay ‘The Last Space Waltz? Reflections on 2001: A Space Odyssey and NASA’, was shortlisted for the 2012 ABR CAL Essay Prize.

Amanda Lohrey Selects

Other SPINELESSWONDERS Women Writers In Permission to Lie, Julie Chevalier casts a curious eye into many different worlds. Her characters ride the citybound bus route, spend the night in a nudist colony and wait tables. Quirky and beautifully written, these stories provide insights that ring with integrity and compassion.

A new voice in Australian fiction, wry, gritty, knowing and true.

—Fiona McGregor Damaged in Transit’s seventeen stories,

by Melbourne writer, Mary Manning, look at the ways people are shaped, or damaged, by their circumstances. The results may sometimes be humorous, sometimes tragic.

A unique voice that is tart, tight and compulsively readable.’

—PADDY O’REILLY

Jane Skelton writes cool prose about hot landscapes, about characters captured by memories of the past, tied up, inextricably in the Australian landscape.

Jane Skelton shows a fine literary talent.

—HELEN BARNES-BULLEY

Our eSingles will be available from the SPINELESS WONDERS website as well as the following ebook platforms and through a range of independent booksellers.

Prices from $0.99 to $1.99 You can read our eSingles on any digital device including smart phones, e-readers, desktop and notebook computers. Also available in .pdf file format.