Shortlisted Stories from the HNSA 2017 Short Story Competition

In addition to the first and second prize winners, there were four shortlisted entries in the HNSA 2017 Short Story Competition. Here (in no particular order), we feature the two remaining stories:

Denise Ogilvie is a short story  writer and novelist. Her children's fantasy,  The Luchair Stones, was published by Phoenix Yard Books (London) in  2014. Denise enjoys writing fictional stories of growing up in Australia during the nineteen fifties and sixties, a time of great change. She is currently writing her first adult novel, Once When We Were Young — a story of conscription,  love and the aftermath of the Vietnam War.  When not writing Denise lives with her husband in Bayside, Melbourne. Here is how her shortlisted story begins:

Fetes de Ramparts

Caen station fills with tourists, all jostling for seats on the train to Pontorson. The July morning is warm, promising another long, cloudless summer day in Normandy. A young man climbs the steps, pressing through the crowded aisle of beleaguered passengers forcing too large bags into too small overhead shelves. He settles into a seat next to the window. An old woman opposite. She perches a large basket on her knee. The smell of fresh, warm bread takes him back to his childhood. Read more...

Before training to be a teacher, Errol Bishop worked as a printer in various locations in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and New Zealand. Married to Karen, also a teacher, they taught in various locations — from the tip go Cape York, to the Queensland/New South Wales border. Now in semi-retirement, they live in Queensland's South Burnett region. Errol has had a number of short stories published. His historical novel, Ghost Galleon, was inspired by the Stradbroke Galleon legend. Here is how his shortlisted story begins:

Seize the Day

James McFarlane eagerly absorbed the sights and sounds of Australia as the ship made its way up the Mary River, towards the town of Maryborough. Almost three years earlier he had left Glasgow aboard a clipper bound for America but as he travelled westward across the vast continent, he became disillusioned with the mood of the American people. Like James, many Americans wanted slavery abolished, but James feared that wasn't going to happen without conflict. Read more...