The Portal Prize is a (new) national short story prize celebrating fantasy fiction by Australian writers.
The prize is intended to:
- Celebrate Australian fantasy writers and writing.
- Embed professional development and conversation with the Riverland community into the prize through a regional creative micro-residency.
The inaugural Portal Prize is now open, with entries closing Thursday 18th March 2027. Winners will be announced Monday 21st June 2027.
We’re looking for fantasy short stories of all sub-genres, including (but not limited to):
- Portal fantasy
- Mythic or folkloric fantasy
- Contemporary or literary fantasy
- Regional or place-based fantasy.
We are especially excited by stories grounded in Australian landscapes, voice, themes, and flavour, and would love to hear from First Nations and Global Majority writers, and emerging voices.
Stay tuned on the Portal Festival Facebook page across the rest of 2026 for special announcements, including information about our inaugural judges (and their selection criteria) and creative prompts to get those stories moving!
Terms and Conditions
Eligibility:
- Open to Australian writers, defined as anyone currently living in Australia, regardless of citizenship or residency status.
- Judges, their immediate family members, and the producing team of Portal Festival are ineligible to enter the prize.
- Independent contractors and volunteers working on current or future Portal Festivals are eligible to submit to the prize.
- The adult prize is open to anyone aged 18 or older at the time of submission. The youth prize is open to anyone aged 17 or under at the time of submission.
Genre & Content
- Fantasy fiction only, any sub-genre.
- Particularly encouraged:
- Portal fantasy
- Fantasy grounded in Australian landscapes, voice, themes, flavour etc
- Stories must be:
- Original
- Unpublished
- Maximum 3500words
- Written without the use of generative AI
Entry Limits
- One entry per writer
Ethics & AI Policy
- Stories must not be written using generative AI tools (eg. ChatGPT, Sudowrite, Claude etc). We want stories from human brains and human hearts.
- We understand that many writing tools now have in-built AI supporting features such as spell-check, grammar, accessibility like screen readers. Use of these features is allowed.
- By entering the prize, entrants confirm that they have complied with this policy.
- Any breach may result in disqualification.
Entry to the inaugural Portal Prize is free. Limited to one entry per writer.
