The Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest is an opportunity for Aotearoa LGBTQIA+ authors. The contest is designed to encourage local authors to write new material exploring their queer identity.

In 2026, the contest will open for entries on Monday March 16, and close on Friday June 5. The winners will be announced during our main festival in August.

First prize is $1,000 for the winning story, $500 for the runner-up and $500 for the best writing by a promising young writer aged 16 to 25.

Each year, two authors or people from the Same Same community are selected to judge the competition. The contest is judged ‘blind’, meaning the judges don’t know who’s written each story.

The contest is dedicated to the life and work of Same Same But Different founder Peter Wells, a writer, filmmaker and historian.

OVERALL WINNER

$1,000

RUNNER UP

$500

PROMISING YOUNG WRITER

$500

The 2026 Contest will open for entries on Monday March 16, and will close on Friday June 5.

2025 marked the tenth anniversary of Samesame But Different and for the short fiction contest we asked for stories with elements of celebration, achievement, of milestones personal and wider. In 2026 we are feeling a shifting climate for our communities, our futures, even for our world, and this year we invite stories of nourishment and rest, renewal, readiness and resilience.

While writers don’t have to restrict their stories to any particular thematic interpretation of the above, or to any genre, time or setting, they will have relevance to the broader Aotearoa New Zealand LGBTQIA+ community. 

We would like to see the word ‘fire’ and/or ‘delight’ used at least once in any way and in any place in the stories.

The full criteria and information for entering is listed on this page.

To enter, entrants must adhere to the following:

1. Stories must be your own original works of fiction, not AI generated nor previously submitted to the contest, already published or concurrently submitted elsewhere.

2. You must identify as LGBTQIA+, and your story should have relevance to Aotearoa’s LGBTQIA+ community.

3. The word(s) ‘fire’ and/or ‘delight’ must be used at least once in any way and in any place in the stories.

4. Stories must be between 1,200 and 2,000 words in length. Any entry above or below this limit will be disallowed automatically.

5. Please give your work a title as a heading on the first page of your story. This helps us identify each piece. 

6. Please include your word count at the end of your story.

7. Stories must be emailed as attachments in PDF or Word format to: [email protected]. The title of your story is the file name.

8. Stories must be received by midnight on Friday June 5, 2026. Late entries will not be accepted.

9. Your name must not appear in headers, footers or anywhere in your story – our judges read all stories in blissful ignorance of the writer’s identity.

10. To enter the Promising Young Writer category, please confirm in your email that you are aged 16-25. (Note that the winning PYW story is also eligible for the Overall Winner Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest prize).

11. If you submit a story to the competition, you are also giving us permission to publish it, which may be online or in a printed publication.

12. The winner may be invited to read their work at our gala event during the Samesame But Different festival, held in August 2026.

13. We only accept stories from writers who are NZ citizens or residents. 

14. Be sure to include your full name, pronouns, email address, contact phone number and where you are based, as well as the title of your story in your submission email.

15. You may submit more than one story. 

Please email all queries to the Administrator at: [email protected]

Before submitting your story/stories please complete, for your own self-reference only, the

following checklist:

● My story is my own original work of fiction, and not previously submitted to the contest, already published or concurrently submitted elsewhere.

● I have included my full name, pronouns, email address and contact number and the title of my story in my submission email.

● Where applicable, in my covering email I have confirmed that I am entering my story in the Promising Young Writer category and also that I am aged 16-25. (Note that the winning PYW story is also eligible for the Overall Winner Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest prize).

● My work has relevance to the broader Aotearoa New Zealand LGBTQIA+ community.

● My name does not appear in headers or footers on my file or anywhere in my story.

● My story is between 1,200 and 2,000 words (and has not exceeded 2,000 words).

● I have used the word ‘fire’ and/or ‘delight’ at least once in any way and in any place in the stories.

● I have the title of my story as a heading on the first page and as the name of my PDF or Word file.

● I have included my word count at the end of my story.

The winners of the 2025 contest were announced as part of the February 2025 festival. The 2025 judges were authors Pip Adam and Jeffrey Buchanan.

The overall winner was Julie Helean’s story The Elimination Round. The runner up was Queenstown Under Military Rule by Nod Ghosh. In the Promising Young Writer category, the winner was Ethan Christensen, for their story after Troye Sivan.

All three stories are available to read by clicking the story titles to the right.

OVERALL WINNER

Julie Helean

The Elimination Round

RUNNER UP

Nod Ghosh

Queenstown Under Military Rule

PROMISING YOUNG WRITER

Ethan Christensen

after Troye Sivan

^{Contest Coordinator Michael Giacon}

^{2023 Winner I. S. Belle reading an excerpt from Minotaur Reading}

^{2023 Winner I. S. Belle}

^{Judge Grace Shelley congratulating Promising Young Writer winner Jackie A. E. Ritchie}

^{2023 Judges Oscar Upperton (L) and Grace Shelley (R)}