Eligibility
● Open to writers residing in Aotearoa New Zealand aged eighteen years and over.
● Limit 1500 words. Entries over this limit will not be accepted.
● Submissions may be written in English or te reo Māori.
● Submissions must be in short story form and fit in the Adult or Young Adult categories.
● Work must be original, previously unpublished fiction and not under consideration for publication.
● Stories must not have been previously placed (i.e. winning or commended) in another competition. 
● Stories may not be entered into other competitions until after 31 October 2025.
● NZSA Top of the South Branch committee members are not eligible to enter.
● By submitting an entry, the writer grants NZSA Top of the South Branch the non-exclusive rights to publish the work on the branch website if it is short-listed in this competition. Up to 10 entries in each language option will be short-listed. 
● The judges' decision is final and no negotiations with entrants will be entered into.
● Judges reserve the right to decide not to award all or any places. If a place is not awarded, prize money will be reserved and reinvested in the running of the awards in the following year.

Submission and Fee
● Submit your entry details via the online form: short stories written in English OR short stories written in te reo Māori 
● Submit your story as an A4 document by email only to: [email protected].
● The file name must be the story title.
● Entries should be in a standard, readable font (eg. Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana etc).  
● Double-spaced.
● Pages must be numbered.
● The title is the heading on the first page.
● The author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript (this includes headers and footers).
● If you enter more than one story, please submit each story separately.
● Entries must arrive no later than 5 pm 31st August 2025.