She’s done it again. Leamington resident Jan Mackenzie took out the Cambridge Autumn Festival short story first prize with her A little less of lonely.
Read: A Little Less of Lonely
Jan Mackenzie with her certificate surrounded by, from left: husband Ken and judges Denise Irvine and Venetia Sherson. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
“Yes, that’s right, that’s the title, it isn’t wrong,” she told The News after sponsors David Cooney and Steve France made the announcement she had won for the second year running.
The theme this year which attracted 150 entries was April Fool’s Day seeing April 1 fell in the middle of the festival.
“This particular story, the starting line I really like,” said Mackenzie.
When the big square bales dropped off the forks, they knocked the land-girl flat.
“It’s been in my head for two or three years. It’s just been there, nothing done with it. So I thought, oh well. The topic was so hard and the story just came so it was really, really neat.”
Mackenzie has had a few story rejections in her time. “It’s like somebody not liking your kid. You get timid about it.”
Waipa mayor Susan O’Regan opens the Autumn Festival 2025 watched by festival chair Alana Mackay. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
She recently decided she was never going to write a book but would write short stories instead.
“They come from nowhere really.”
Sherson said they judge the entries blind and had no idea it was Mackenzie who had won again. She described her as a writer who takes risks with her work.
“The theme of April Fool’s was interpreted in many different ways. The three winning entries featured in all four judges’ top choices. However, the winning story – A little less of lonely – was exceptional. It had wonderful timing and rhythm, with a little twist that made the reader squirm. The writing was spare and assured,” she said.
It was the 13th year of the competition and the last one sponsored by Cooney who has retired and sold the insurance business he founded in 1987 to Maurice Trapp Group.
Second prize went to Julie Taylor of Okoroire with Concrete Proof while third was One Joke Too Many by Anne Wilkins of Auckland.
See: Harry Gone Away
See: A ‘fantastic’ autumn festival
Julie Taylor of Okoroire with sponsor Steve France was second in the Autumn Festival short story competition 2025. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Anne Wilkins of Auckland with sponsor Steve France was third in the Autumn Festival short story competition 2025. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Sponsors David Cooney and Steve France with short story winner Jan Mackenze at the Autumn Festival launch, Te Awa. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
