Capricorn Coast Writers Festival (CCWF) is excited to be continuing our Schools' Program

Thanks to the generous and ongoing support of Rotary Club of Yeppoon, the Capricorn Coast Writers Festival Student Short Story Competition will now be an annual event. This event is part of our shared goal to improve student literacy and creativity in the region through short story writing. 

2026 Student Short Story Competition

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​Students, crank up your creativity, pull out your pen, fire up your laptop. We’re running a short story competition and the theme is A Place In Time.

The 2026 CCWF Student Short Story Competition is open to  all school students enrolled in schools within the Livingstone Shire.

​Students living in the Livingstone Shire enrolled in HEU (Home Education Unit) through the QLD Government or DE (Distance Education) are also encouraged to participate.


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There are four age categories:
  • Prep – Year 3 (< 200 words)
  • Year 4 – Year 6 (200 – 400 words)
  • Junior secondary Years 7 -10 (400 – 800 words)
  • Senior secondary Years 11 – 12 (800 – 1200 words)

Entries for the CCWF 2025 Short Story competition close at midnight on Thursday 30 April, 2026.
The finalists, 5 in each age category, will be announced prior to the 2026 festival. Winners will be announced on Saturday, 30 May, 2026, during the Capricorn Coast Writers Festival opening session.

PRIZES

All finalists will receive a signed certificate, a $30 book voucher, their story will be published in the 2026 anthology of short stories and they will receive a complimentary copy of the anthology when it is published.

​The winners will receive a $50 book voucher prize and in the junior and senior secondary age groups, the winners will also receive a $50 cash card. 
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 The 2026 Capricorn Coast Student Writers’ Anthology will be compiled and published after the festival concludes and made available as soon as possible.

Conditions of Entry

  1. You must be a current student of a school in the Livingstone Shire.
  2.  The story must be fictional.
  3.  Your story must incorporate the theme, A Place In Time.
  4. The story must be typed in Times New Roman 12pt font and double-spaced using Microsoft Word.
  5. Stories that exceed the word limit for their category will be deemed ineligible.
  6. The story must use single speech marks (quotation marks) for dialogue.
  7. Writers may only submit one entry each.
  8. The title must appear at the top of your story on a separate line. Identifying names of the student or school should only appear on the entry form, not on the work itself.
  9. All work must be that of the individual author, as it may be checked for plagiarism or A.I. use.
  10. The finished story must be submitted by the entry form which is accessed via the 'Enter the competition here' button above. Entries close Midnight, Thursday 30 April, 2026.
  11. The decision of the judges is final.
  12. Entries that fail to comply with all the conditions will not be considered. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  13. Winners and finalists will have their stories published in the Capricorn Coast Student Writers’ Anthology 2026.
  14. Winners and finalists may be required to participate in media opportunities. Media consent details are found on the entry form. 
  15. Judges are not required to provide feedback.
  16. Any concerns should be directed via email to [email protected]

Note: To protect the privacy of students, their first name and the first initial of their last name will identify the displayed or published work of students, unless otherwise directed by their entry form.

Please email [email protected] if you have any questions about your entry. We can’t wait to read your stories!
Yeppoon Rotary Club generously support the Schools' Program.