2026 Mayors’ Short Story Challenge Winners Announced!

Talented young writers from across the Fleurieu Peninsula were celebrated this week at the presentation of the 2026 Mayors’ Short Story Challenge winners. The program invites students from Reception to Year 10 to challenge their creativity and storytelling skills.

A collaboration since 2010 between Alexandrina Council, the District Council of Yankalilla and the City of Victor Harbor, the Mayor’s Short Story Challenge aims to encourage children to let their imaginations run wild and share stories through creative writing.

This year’s challenge attracted 461 entries from Alexandrina Council, 196 entries from District Council of Yankalilla and 400 from the City of Victor Harbor.

The winners of the 2026 Mayors’ Short Story Challenge were announced at a ceremony held at the Victor Harbor Library on Thursday 3rd September, with more than 170 people in attendance to celebrate the talented work of the entrants.

Individual category winners received a $50 book voucher, with the overall winner from each council area receiving an additional $50 book voucher.

The school of each overall winner received $1,000 from their respective council and winning home school students, will be invited to select up to $1,000 worth of books or library resources for their local council library.

Introduced in 2024 are two Special Options categories for primary and high school. Entries were collated from across the region and judged by members of the Disability Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee, which also provided category winners prizes.

The winning Special Options school received a $300 voucher to purchase new library resources for their Special Options unit.

The mayors praised the children who took up the challenge and demonstrated their creative writing skills. They also thanked the public libraries for their work in coordinating the challenge along with the principals, teacher-librarians, teachers and student service officers who played a key role in encouraging their students to showcase their talents.

Prizes were generously provided by the respective councils and Friends of the Library groups and the Disability Access and Inclusion Advisory Committee.

2026 Mayors’ Short Story Challenge Winners

For more information about the Mayors’ Short Story Challenge visit the Mayors' Short Story webpage.