FINEST 500 2025
This is a competition for members of Geelong Writers only. The winner of this year’s Finest 500 Competition received a $500 prize. Stories responded to the photo prompt above. The artwork titled ‘Angry’ for prompt was supplied by Tom Adair.
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEMENT
Congratulations to the writers of the following entries that were shortlisted for the Finest 500 2025:
- Crushed by Sue Gourlay (FIRST PLACE)
- The Sedimental Bloke by Martin Smith (SECOND PLACE)
- Arrival by Geoff Gaskill (THIRD PLACE)
- A Culinary Connection by David Bridge
- Care Facility by Michelle Fitzgerald
- Decay at Dunmourn by Thomas Brasher
- Montana Died at 12 Kenneth Street by Phoebe Hancox
- Pinocchio by Catherine Hannah
- Seashells and Sorrow: A Woman’s Rite to her Anger by Nicole Mitchell
- The Dust by Jesse Harman
The winner and place-getters were announced at the Geelong Writers’ Festive Season Celebration on 17 December 2025.
The shortlisted entries can be read here or a chapbook is available for purchase at our Publications page.
For those writers that didn’t make the shortlist this year, we appreciate the time and effort put in to your submission and we encourage you to keep writing! There are more competitions and opportunities to be acknowledged for your hard work in the future.
Terms of the competition are:
- Entries can be fiction or non-fiction, any genre
- Give your work an original title (not included in the word count)
- Your name should not appear anywhere on your work as the pieces will be judged anonymously
- Entrants must be paid members of Geelong Writers
- Limit of one entry per member
- Our house style is Australian Standard: singular quotations and Australian spelling