Seventeen stories selected from the sixth annual Margaret River Short Story Competition.A truly national competition, contributors this year come from Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia.

Queenslander Laura Elvery's winning entry, Joiner Bay, is a tender story about running and suicide by a schoolboy in a coastal community.

Second prize was awarded to Melbourne Writer Else Fitzgerald for Sheen, a sparkling science fiction story that asks questions about the crossroads of humanity and progress.