Many writers have shared their thoughts with the public:

"There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you." - Beatrix Potter

"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anaïs Nin

"Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others' writing, is what makes you feel famous." - Gretchen Bernabei

"Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth." - Edna Ferber

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Ben Franklin

"One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones to form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment." - Hart Crane

"There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are." - W. Somerset Maugham

The Best of Times Short Story Competition

Spring 2024 results

Note: stories are available for reading only where the authors have given permission.

First Place ($300)

Jan-Andrew Henderson, QLD: The Elephant

Second Place ($75)

Eddy Burger, VIC: Kissing Frogs

Third Place ($25)

Wendy Wardell, WA: Navigating the New World

Highly Commended

Jan-Andrew Henderson, QLD: Be Careful What You Wish For

Lorena Otes, NSW: A Butterfly's Proboscis, and the ungainly mind of a perhaps one day bride-to-be

Andrew Brown, NSW: The Bridal Suite

Commended

Edward Burger, VIC: Seeing the Band Forty-Three Beans Before I Knew Their Name

Courtney Mason, SA: Bulls**t Artist

Warren Brooks, NSW: The Diamond Switch

Joanne Macias, NSW: Medusa's Madness


There were 51 short stories in the competition, from 43 entrants.