Outback Is in with Stiletto Awards

Somewhat belatedly comes news that Hayley Young, a 32-year-old Canberra pharmacist and first-time crime writer, has won the Swinburne University of Technology First Prize in this year’s 28th Scarlet Stiletto Short Story Awards competition, sponsored by Sisters in Crime Australia. That announcement was made online on November 27. Young’s Outback police procedural, “Monster Hunters,” also picked up the 2021 ScriptWorks’s Great Film Idea Award. Her total in prize money for both victories is $2,000 AUD.

The Scarlet Stiletto Awards were established in the mid-1990s to recognize short fiction “written by Australian women and featuring a strong female protagonist.” The Sisters in Crime Australia Web site reports that 241 short stories—“equal to last year’s record”—were submitted in 2021. In addition to Young’s honors, assorted other prize recipients were named during the same online event.

Simon & Schuster Second Prize:
“On the Inside,” by Jaclyn Riley-Smith

Sun Bookshop & Wild Dingo Press Third Prize:
“The Gospel of Cecily,” by Ellen Coates

Affirm Press Young Writer’s Award:
“The Braxton Mystery,” by Caitlyn Whitbread

Melbourne Athenaeum Body-in-the-Library Library Award:
“Death’s Waiting Room,” by Clare Fletcher

Kerry Greenwood’s Malice Domestic Award:
“What I Did in Lokdown by Chloe Martin age 9 1/2,” by Jane Lee

Every Cloud Production’s History with Mystery Award:
“The Séance,” by Natalie Conyer

Viliama Grakalic Best Art and Crime Story Award:
“The Fragrance of the Corpse Flower,” by Caroline de Costa

Booktopia Publisher Services Best Environmental Mystery Award:
“Mystery Off the Jillawong Road,” by Stephanie Holm

Writers Victoria’s Crime and Punishment Award for Most Satisfying Retribution: “Cash Sale,” by Janet Moore

HQ Fiction Award for Best Thriller:
“Put the Kettle On,” by Janice Shaw

Queensland Chapter of Sisters in Crime’s Liz Navratil Award for the Story with the Best Disabled Protagonist: “Waiting,” by
Christine Fontana

More information about these winning tales and their authors can be obtained by clicking here.