The Furphy Anthology 2025 is packed with great reading: stories with a wide variety of themes, genres, and settings, from the absurd to the tender, the nostalgic to the poignant.
It’s the sixth fabulous collection of short stories from the annual Furphy Literary Award (FLA), a national short story competition that prides itself on encouraging and nurturing a growing community of Australian writers.
The 2025 Anthology includes the following brilliant 15 stories, listed by writer and story title:
WINNER:
The Eulogy Business by Serena Moss
Second:
Somewhere Above The Artesian by Charlotte Askew
Third:
All the Moments I Still Live In by Amy L Montague
Turkey Dinner by Darren Bell
Muggy Mouth by Jorgia Hamilton Waiting by Tina Huang
Turn to Snow by Jay McKenzie
The Grim Gripper by Damian O'Donnell
Tendency to Sunburn by Mark O'Flynn
The Role of the Cloaca in Montreme Phylogeny by Joseph Pfeffer
Halcyon Days by Kim Tyzack
The Cailleach by Philomena van Rijswijk
Familia Defectus by Louise Walton
The Undying Love of Specimen A398 by Emma Westwood
Those Who Stayed by Melanie Wild
The FLA is thrilled to discover emerging writers and help kickstart their careers with prize money, recognition and publication.
Short Stories, Anthology, Aussie Tales, Humour
About The Author
The Furphy Literary Award is an annual competition that is free to enter and invites writers around Australia to submit a short story up to 5,000 words.
Originally established in 1992, the Furphy Literary Award was relaunched as a national prize in 2020.
The 2026 Furphy Literary Award opens for entries on February 1st and closes on April 30th, 2026. More information can be found on the website https://www.furphyliteraryaward.com.au/
The Furphy Literary Award is named in honour of Australian writer Joseph Furphy, who wrote under the pen name Tom Collins and published Such is Life in 1903.
The Award is administered by the Furphy Foundation where co-directors Adam Furphy and Sam Furphy (Joseph’s great, great, grand-nephews) continue to run the Furphy Engineering and Furphy Foundry businesses founded in Shepparton, Victoria, in 1873.
