Supporting New Zealand and Australia’s creative community is an important part of MiNDFOOD. This is why each month we showcase local talent from both countries, written by budding writers.
Here’s a little bit about each of our outstanding winners for the year.
New Zealand Short Story Winner: Celia Coyne
Freelance editor Celia Coyne moved to Christchurch seven years ago and intends to stay – in spite of the earthquakes. Coyne has been developing her fiction writing, and her short stories have appeared in various anthologies. Her story “Superhero” comes straight from the heart as Coyne grew up in a chaotic household with a mother who had bipolar disorder. One day she hopes to have a collection of short stories published. In the meantime, you can find her sitting on her deck, notebook in hand, gazing at the view.
To read her short story “Superhero”, click here.
Australia Short Story Winner: Karina Samaras
Born and raised in Wollongong, New South Wales, Katrina Samaras has worked in public libraries for more than 30 years, witnessing the transition from card catalogues to computers. She writes light verse to amuse family and friends, as well as the occasional short story, when emotionally driven to it. She would like to shed her perfectionism and do more. Samaras is fascinated with the age-old concept of the quest and its relationship to meaning. She is especially interested in the way we use quests to help us navigate life, thus inspiring her short story. Her current quests include ballet, yoga and sourcing the world’s best neenish tart.
To read her short story “The Quest”. click here.
The Judging Panel 2016
Meredith Jaffé
Meredith Jaffé is a writer and occasional book critic. Her first novel, The Fence, was published in 2016 to critical acclaim. For four years, she wrote a weekly literary column for the online women’s magazine The Hoopla. Meredith regularly chairs panels, presents workshops and interviews fellow authors for literary events. She is a keep believer in the power of literacy.
Mireille Juchau
Mireille Juchau’s most recent novel, The World Without Us, won the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Mireille was formerly the fiction editor of Heat Magazine and has a PhD in literature. Her short fiction, literary and art criticism are widely published.
Michael McHugh
MiNDFOOD’s editor-in-chief Michael McHugh has been involved in publishing and media for more than 25 years. Michael founded Notebook magazine and launched Delicious, which both went on to find success in Europe. MiNDFOOD was launched in 2008 and is an integrated media brand, which include the biannual magazines STYLE and DECOR.
Meelee Soorkia
Meelee Soorkia has been working with words for a decade. By day she is senior development editor at Hardie Grant Books in Melbourne; by night she invents fictional worlds and sometimes puts them to paper. Her first literary love is the short story, which she believes is an undervalued and under-appreciated art that can emotionally arrest you.
We are currently looking for short story entries for the upcoming year. Click here for more details.
