Sargeson Prize Short Story Competition

🏆 $2,000 cash prize
📝 One-week summer writing residency at the University of Waikato 🎓 AND they may be nominated for a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship worth up to $15,000 to study at Waikato! Not bad in exchange for a short story! Enter here: waikato.ac.nz/sargeson-prize

A brand new addition to our Secondary Schools Division prizes has just dropped 👀 The Sargeson Prize Secondary Schools winner receives 🧵👇

Six weeks left to enter the Sargeson Prize, writers!

We are officially at the halfway mark for the 2026 Sargeson Prize ⏳ Yes, your story is probably ready and yes, we would love to read it. ➡️ Submit here: waikato.ac.nz/about/facultie…

➡️ Submissions are now open: waikato.ac.nz/about/facultie… (2/2)

🏆 Award-winning author Becky Manawatu is the Chief Judge for the 2026 Sargeson Prize and is encouraging writers across Aotearoa to give it a go. Whether you are just starting out or have been writing for years, this is your chance to share it with the world. (1/2)

Thinking of entering the Sargeson Prize? Here’s what you could win: Open Division
🥇 First Prize: $15,000 Secondary Schools Division
🥇 First Prize: $2,000 + a summer writing residency at the University of Waikato
 Enter today. 🔗waikato.ac.nz/about/facultie…

Entries for the 2026 Sargeson Prize are now open ✨ If you have an idea sitting in your notes app waiting to be fleshed out, now is the time. Enter here: waikato.ac.nz/about/facultie…

...and the judge for the 2026 Sargeson Prize is...Becky Manawatu! waikato.ac.nz/news-events/ne…

⭐ 'Orange Warning' by Kate Duignan — the third-place winner of the 2025 Sargeson Prize — is now live on @NewsroomNZ! newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/08/sho…

✨Read 'My Pal Mal' by Maria Wickens, the second-place winner of the 2025 Sargeson Prize. Now live on @NewsroomNZ newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/01/sho…

Chief Judge @ElizabethKnoxNZ described Brooke's story as "perfect... no blame, no recriminations — just the pain and grief of thwarted love."

🏆Here's the story that took home the 2025 Sargeson Prize in the Secondary Schools Division: 'Piece of the Furniture' by Brooke Smith. Now live on @NewsroomNZ newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/25/sho…

Announced last Saturday at The University of Waikato (@waikato), Chief Judge @ElizabethKnoxNZ described it as “a story which makes its readers feel that no one is safe, not even safely out of it.”

📷 Read the winning story of the 2025 Sargeson Prize — Becky Manawatu's (@BeckyMana) 'The Vase' — now live on the @NewsroomNZ. newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/18/win…

Full list of winners of the 2025 Sargeson Prize here, along with chief judge Elizabeth Knox's comments: waikato.ac.nz/news-events/ne…

Open winner Becky Manawatu and Schools winner Brooke Smith at the 2025 Sargeson Prize!

This year saw a record-breaking 1,470 entries, and the competition was something fierce. Ngā mihi nui to everyone who entered. We will share more details about this year's Frank Sargeson Memorial Lecture soon! (2/2)

Kia ora koutou! We have now contacted all successful entrants for the Sargeson Prize. If you have not heard from us, you are free to submit your story elsewhere. (1/2)

A record number of entries this year - 1470 stories! That's 1164 in the Open Division & 306 in the Secondary Schools Division. Thank you all! 🥰 Now the hard work (for us and Chief Judge @ElizabethKnoxNZ) begins! @waikato