And the winners of the 2026 Katherine Mansfield Sparkling Prose competition are....

By Flash Frontier: An Adventure in Short Fiction | Posted: Wednesday Oct 21, 2026

First

Beyond the dunes by C.P. McCaffrey

Second

Conversations at MOMA by Julie Helean

Third

At the vampire girl’s grave by Kathryn Kulpa

Highly Commended

If this is all there is, it is enough by Susan Barker

Oceans by Kirstie McKinnon

Commended

Caravan by Tania Joy Norfolk

Summa cum laude by Margot McLean

SHORT LIST

Rewilding by Kim Martins

Sounds wild by Susan Wardell

Wild horses by Jillian Sullivan

LONG LIST

A perfect storm by Emma Barnes

Blackberry Downs by Rosaleen Lynch

But only go down as far as the pā by Michal Horton

Charles Brash and other doulas by Linda Collins

Coolest little capital by Andy Southall

Disposed by Taylor Cunningham

I do not hear the song sparrow here by Angela Pope

Instructions for knitting a fair isle jumper by Anne Dorrian

Keeping score by Monique Schoneveld

Selfie by Tim Saunders

Soot by Bernard Steeds

The crossing by Deb Jowitt

The phoenix by Emily Macdonald

The silent world by Caroline Masters

Winners were announced at the event at the Katherine Mansfield House & Garden in Wellington, 14 October 2026