The Furphy Literary Award celebrates ‘Australian Life in all its diversity’. Over 500 entries were received for the 2021 award. The winner’s story, together with those of the two placegetters and 13 other selections, are presented here.

Toowoomba-based writer Thomas Alan won the award with ‘Oranges’, a story of a disaffected and angry man in a small town, where any indiscretion is magnified. ‘Holden’ by Michelle Prak speaks of a teenage girl trying to find love. Her mother concentrates on her rocky relationship, rather than her children. This dislocated family is contrasted with the family cat nurturing her new-born kittens in the boot of the car. The other highly commended story, ‘No Good Deed’, by Andrew Roff would have received first place had I been judging. This is an intriguing story of a successful woman beset by periods of memory loss during which she does good deeds, contrasting with her job as an archaeologist for a mining company.

Of the other selections, ‘Boy’, by Keren Heenan, must have come close to winning. This is a Gothic tale of a lost boy and the man who finds him, who seems just as lost. The reverse chronology (from death back to birth) in ‘Six Pairs of Shoes’, by Verity Borthwick, takes us back to the escape of convicts in the Tasmanian wilderness.

This is a great selection of varied and well-told stories.

Reviewed by Bob Moore