The winner of the 2007 Uni Pub ANU Short Story Competition will have her work published by Melbourne Books in September.

Kirani Carlin's story Shatter has been selected for inclusion in the new book Award Winning Australian Writing.

Kirani won first prize at the inaugural short story competition and says that she barely managed to finish the story and get it in on time.

"Shatter came about after months of throwing around ideas about breaking points and how different people react. I wrote part two of the story in May, and promptly forgot about it, finding it much later while cleaning out my hard drive. I finished it barely days before deadline, still picking it apart while walking over to hand it in.

"Writing the story was enormously rewarding, and I'm beyond thrilled that people are reading it," she said.

Since coming to Canberra, the ANU international relations student has increasingly turned to writing for some much-needed downtime.

"I've been writing far more seriously than ever before and more and more use it to escape my hectic life. It's become almost a form of meditation, a sort of relaxing, cathartic, reflection process. At the moment I'm working on a novel, a collection of short stories, and a song here and there," she said.

The Uni Pub ANU Short Story Competition is a newcomer to the local literary scene. The inaugural competition in 2007 was open to all students enrolled at ANU, featuring a free choice of topic and a first prize of $5,000 donated by the owners of Uni Pub. The first competition attracted more than 150 entries, taking its organisers by surprise.

The judging panel included Uni Pub proprietor and well-known Canberra lobbyist Eric Walsh, former ABC boss Brian Johns, and ANU Chancellor Allan Hawke. Impressed by the quality of the entries, the judges identified 10 stories as of particular merit. But they were unanimous and confident in their decision to award the first prize to Kirani for Shatter. 

Entries are now being accepted for the 2008 competition. First prize money has been increased to $6,000, with $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third.

More information can be found on how to enter at http://www.anu.edu.au/dos/story_comp/short_story08.htm

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