Before announcing this year’s Story Wine Prize winners, judges Emily Bitto, Michelle Law and Melissa Manning wished to commend all the shortlisted stories and entries for their vision and scope:

We were impressed by the breadth of voices and stories submitted; the body of entries took us around the world before landing us in our own backyard.

The winning entries of the 2016 Overland Story Wine Prize are:

Winner: ‘Sweeping’ by Cameron Weston

Runner-up: ‘Silver linings’ by Johanna Bell

Runner-up: ‘Silver gates’ by Zoë Bradley

On the wining stories, the judges write:

The authenticity of voice and the portrayal of the simple, domestic aspects of grief in ‘Silver gates’ was striking. The quiet tragedy of a disintegrating family unit was depicted gorgeously against the backdrop of wild Australia in ‘Silver linings’. In ‘Sweeping’, we were drawn into and then deftly ejected from a fully formed world.

The full judges report and ‘Sweeping’ will be published in Overland 225, to be launched in Melbourne on Friday 9 December. ‘Silver linings’ and ‘Silver gates’ will be published online, alongside the rest of Overland’s final edition for 2016. All three stories will be published on upcoming Story Wine labels.

Congratulations to the winning and shortlisted stories.

Image: ‘Celebration’ / flickr