2026 judges: Cecily Paterson and Mark Worthing

We're delighted to introduce our 2026 judges, Cecily Paterson in the Open category, and Mark Worthing in the Short category. After the submission period closes on 1 August, we will send Cecily and Mark the stories in their category as anonymous entries. They will then then select a first, second and third prize-winner based on these three criteria:

1) the quality of the writing

2) the impact of the story

3) how well the story articulates some aspect of the Christian faith

Sometimes, judges also provide us with a short write-up to explain their choices. If they do, we read these out at the prize-giving ceremony in November. We find that the judges' comments help us appreciate and better understand the elements of good writing. The prize-giving ceremony is held in conjunction with the book launch at Tabor College and online. 

Every person may submit one story in each category. All stories will be considered for publication in the annual Stories of Life anthology. However, committee members of Stories of Life, and their immediate family, are not eligible for prizes. 

Cecily Paterson: judge for the Open category (1500 words or less)

Cecily Paterson is the author of the award-winning memoir, Love Tears & Autism, and the ACBOY short-listed biography, Never Alone, as well as nine Middle Grade/Young Adult novels. Invisible was a semifinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards in 2014, Charlie Franks is A-OK won the CALEB Award in 2017 and Lola in the Middle won the Forevability Book Award in 2021. Cecily is the co-author of the Pet Sitters series for young readers, writing as Ella Shine with Penny Reeve, and she teaches an online memoir course at www.redloungeforwriters.com

Cecily grew up in Pakistan, where she went to boarding school in the Himalayan mountains, and now lives in beautiful Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales.

Mark Worthing: judge for the Short category judge (500 words or less)

Mark Worthing holds a Doctor of Philosophy in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Regensburg, Germany, and a Doctor of Theology in ecumenical theology from the University of Munich. For the past four years, he has been the pastor of St Peter’s in Port Macquarie. Previously, he served as Head of Humanities, Tabor College (2006-2010), and founded the College’s Creative Writing Programme.

His publications include Iscariot. A Novel. (Morning Star, 2018); The Winter Fae. A Fantasy Novella (Stone Table Books, 2018); Martin Luther: A Wild Boar in the Lord’s Vineyard (Morning Star Press, 2017 – shortlisted for 2018 Australian Book of the Year); What the Dog Saw (Morning Star, 2017) Graeme Clarke: The Man Who Invented the Bionic Ear (Allen and Unwin, 2015); Narnia, Middle-Earth and the Kingdom of God: A History of Fantasy Literature and the Christian Tradition (Stone Table Books, 2016); God and Science in Classroom and Pulpit, with G. Buxton and C. Mulherin (Mosaic Press, 2012);When Choice Matters: An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Pantaenus Press, 2004) The Matrix Revealed: The Theology of the Matrix Trilogy (Pantaenus Press, 2004) God, Creation, and Contemporary Physics (Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1996winner of the Templeton Book Prize 1997).

Want to be part of this writing and publishing adventure? Looking for inspiration to help you start working on your 2026 stories of life submission? You could check out our short writing videos, read past prize-winning stories in our archives, or grab a copy of our past anthologies at our online bookstore.