Choke and Stroke

The Aluminum Crown Short Story Contest

In the year 2101, due to environmental changes, the Melbourne CBD will be enclosed in a cube: the Central Business Cube, the CBC. We are looking for stories based around this speculative event in the future of Australia. We are asking you to think inside the box.

"Due to changing environment conditions, the CBD of Melbourne must accept enclosure. On this date, 200 years post Federation of Australia, we enter a new phase for our great city. Our future city is no dome, it is a place of straight lines, and only the most righteous angles will protect our glorious commercial district. In 1837, Robert Russell dreamt of the Hoddle Grid project, an organised collection of parallel and perpendicular streets that would form the Central Business District, the CBD. This area became the beating heart of the great southern bastion, our city of Melbourne. Russell's dream will be protected forever more, but now in the 3rd Dimension. After 25 years of incredible engineering and architecture, the Central Business Cube is open for business."

Light is the Head That Weats The Aluminium Crown Contest Collective

We are looking for stories based around this speculative event in the future of Australia. Any stories about the Cube are welcome to be submitted and put into consideration for our cash prizes.

Entry requirements:

This is the first run a yearly short story contest open to Australian and international writers.

Submissions open:	1/5/2025
Submissions close:	31/10/2025
Word length:	1000-5000 words
Entry fee:	No entry fee, one original story per author/s (Entries can be single authored or multi-authored).
Age requirement:	Contestants must be 18+ years old.
Publication:	Stories cannot be published elsewhere (including blogs/Facebook etc).
Language:	Accepting stories written in English, though use of English based Lingua francas aka Creoles/Pidgins or Ebonics are acceptable for functional/character usage. (No other languages accepted if the story/characters become incomprehensible). English grammar and spelling doesn’t need to be amazing and we welcome L.O.T.E. speakers.

Submission:

Submissions are to be emailed to:
[email protected]
with the email subject line:'The Aluminium Crown 2025 Submission: [Story name] by [Author Name]'

Please submit your entry as a Word Doc attachment (.doc or .docx), double-spaced, with 12-point text.

We're a pro-serif contest, so please use a serif font like Times New Roman or EB Garamond font.

Your personal details should not be included in your submission document as judges assess all submissions anonymously. Please include name, email, full postal address and phone number in the body of the email.

Judging:

The judging panel will be announced mid-submission period.

Once submission closes, stories will be judged and a long-list of 20 pieces will be created. If long-listed, entrants will be contacted and have 24hrs to decide to withdraw from our prize or their stories will be locked into the draw. Entrants who are long-listed must not advertise the submitted piece until the final prize closes. From the long list, judges will then decide on a short list of three stories. These three winners will be asked to submit a picture, a single link and a 50-word bio to be placed alongside their publication. This is not mandatory, as we respect anonymity and enjoy pseudonyms. First place will be chosen from the short list through a consensus from the judges. Winners will be awarded prizes as follows:

• 1st place: $300
• 2nd place: $150
• 3rd place: $50
• Judge's Prize: TBD

Publication:

Once the winners are finalised and announced, a short-run print will be created with the winning stories. The print run and scope of this publication will be based on the interest and success of the contest. The winners and longlist will be included in the publication. We retain the right to slightly alter the story for publication (grammar, spelling etc) - any major changes will only be undertaken with entrant’s consent. In addition, three months post print publication, the long list of stories, authors willing, shall be posted on www.chokeandstroke.com. The authors retain all rights of their stories for future use. For any further publications of the long-listed stories, we'd love it if you could contain a link and information about the Light is the Head that Wears the Aluminium Crown Short Story Contest, to promote our organisation and spread goodwill.

Organisation:

This contest is run by the Light is the Head That Weats The Aluminium Crown Contest Collective based in Melbourne, Australia. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land it is organised on, Wurundjeri people, and we pay our respects to their ancestors and Elders past and present and future.

Funding for the contest will be sourced from the Containter Deposit Scheme running in Victoria, Australia. Cans and bottles will come from the bins of the judges and by donations. All cans and bottles are welcome for donation and will allow our contest to remain functional, independent, and sustainable. If you are interested in donating, email us and we'll arrange the Garbage Knight to come and pick them up:
[email protected]

The Light is the Head that Wears the Aluminium Crown Short Story Contest is the only short story contest powered by aluminium.

Q&A:

How to I contribute to Q&A?
Please direct questions to [email protected].

Why is [insert failure] present in the organisation of the Light is the Head that Wears the Aluminium Crown Short Story Contest?
It is the first year of the contest and there are many kinks to work out. Further, the contest is inherently messy as it is powered by waste.

What is the 'Stories From a Cube' tab in the navigation?
This is an story written by one of the collective. It is an introductory story about life in the CBC. It is a story from the cube, but it is not your story from the cube. Yours can be related or it can be set in your unique region of time and space. It just has to be about the Cube, don't know how much more that can be underlined. This story encapsulates an aspect of the culture of Light is the Head that Wears the Aluminium Crown Short Story Collective: At the end of the day, we're organising this contest because of our shared love of creativity.

Who is the Garbage Knight?
The Garbage Knight is a follower of the Gomi Hiroi Samurai of Japan. The Garbage Knight works around Melbourne picking up waste. The Garbage Knight will be working in collaboration with the Light is the Head That Weats The Aluminium Crown Contest Collective to collect bottles and cans for funding and donation.