Scarlet Stiletto Bites

Inga Simpson entered the Scarlet Stiletto while living in Brisbane during her second year of studying creative writing. Two prizes for one story and the publication of “Operation Bluewater” in Scarlet Stiletto Uncut , gave her the (somewhat misguided) belief that she could shift careers, from government researcher to writer. It was nearly a decade before she made another cent from writing, but Ing...

Kerry James was a lapsed professional and full-time carer for a loved one in decline when she wrote “Bucket Time”. She was considering people’s control over their inevitable death and imagined options that were kind and quick; she was strictly a non-mess murderer. “Bucket Time’s” win awarded her a mentorship with past Stiletto winner Inga Simpson! Those lessons were invaluable. The win thus gave K...

Linda was inspired to weave her wildlife rescue activities into a crime story and showcase the amazing, and mostly unsung, work of the volunteer networks. The Scarlet Stiletto award boosted her confidence in telling stories and she was chuffed to be rubbing shoulders with so many talented women writers. Since then, she has won an award in the Waterline Writing Competition and is always looking out...

Liz Filleul won the Scarlet Stiletto Award in 2004, and naturally wanted to win a second shoe. In 2007, she almost did so with “The Write Place”, which finished second. Two more second-placed stories followed in 2011 and 2016. That second shoe remains elusive, but Liz has had dozens of short crime stories published, including in UK magazine The People’s Friend , and in US magazine, Woman’s World ....

Evelyn Tsitas is writer, artist, and curator. Her published and performed works range across fiction, nonfiction, stage, and journalism. Evelyn’s short story “Xenos” which won the Scarlet Stiletto Innovation prize in 2007 and became the basis for Evelyn’s PhD research into speculative fiction and hybridity. Credits Concept designer, co-producer, and narrator: Susanna Lobez Co-producer: Carmel Shut...

Margaret Bevege’s PhD thesis was published as Behind Barbed Wire by UQP in 1993. She had articles in Women, Class and History and Worth Her Salt , which she co-edited. Turning to fiction. she won the 2001 Malice Domestic prize, reprinted in Scarlet Stiletto- The First Cut in 2007. Two other stories were printed in the NSW Queen of Crime Anthologies and from one of these she developed the main char...

Vikki Petraitis has written 18 books, including her best-selling book The Frankston Murders about serial killer Paul Denyer. In 2023, she released a podcast of the same name which topped charts around the world and helped change the law to keep Denyer in prison. Vikki’s first fiction, The Unbelieved , won the inaugural Allen & Unwin Crime Fiction Prize and the Readers’ Choice Davitt Award. The...

Aoife Clifford is the author of the best-selling literary crime novels, Second Sight, highly commended in the Davitt Awards, All These Perfect Strangers, longlisted for both the ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and the Voss Literary Prize; and When We Fall which was shortlisted for best crime novel in both the Ned Kelly Awards and the Davitt Awards. She has been shortlisted for the UK Crime A...

Sarah Evans is a seasoned writer of crime and her stories are usually inspired by true events. “The Bodyguard” and “Cold Comfort” are no exception. The idea for “The Bodyguard” materialized after Sarah read a magazine piece on a forensic scientist and “Cold Comfort” was based on a curmudgeonly farmer from the back blocks of WA. The Scarlet Stiletto Award has been an integral part of Sarah’s writin...

Apart from writing humorous family poetry, Anne had little writing experience. She won awards for two short stories at U3A and joined a creative writing group with Fin Ross who suggested her students enter a Scarlet Stiletto short story competition. She was fortunate to win two categories with her story Out of the Dark in 2011. One of these prizes was a mentorship at Olvar Wood Writers Retreat and...

Vicky Daddo lives in Hazelwood South, Victoria and is President of the Gippsland Writers Network and a Regional Ambassador for Writers Victoria. Her stories have appeared in The Big Issue, Award Winning Australian Writing and other anthologies. She has placed in competitions including the Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction, the Hope Prize, the Scarlet Stilettos and the FAW National Literary Awards. H...

Since completing this short story, Mel Salomon completed her PhD, and moved to the United States where she now works as a medical writer. She has 2 children, a great husband and a newfound passion for long distance running. In her spare time she still enjoys writing poetry. Credits Concept designer, co-producer, and narrator: Susanna Lobez Co-producer: Carmel Shute ProductionManager: Tim Coy Graph...

THIS STORY CONTAINS DETAILS OF CRUELTY TO A CHILD AND MAY BE TRIGGERING. Marguerite Johnson is Honorary Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Queensland. She began creative writing, literary essays, and public opinion pieces in 2010, following a break from academia as a result of cancer. She continues to combine research with other writing practices. She is a contributor t...

When Sarah won the Scarlet Stiletto Award for the Best Young Writer in 2011, she was in Year 7 at Caulfield Grammar School. Though she had been passionate about writing since she was young, winning the award boosted her confidence and inspired her to pursue a career in the literary industry. Sarah has since hosted author events, run a successful YA book club, interned for the Melbourne Writers Fes...

Mary Evans wrote Stage Fright while she was being homeschooled by her mother, crime writer Sarah Evans, who encouraged Mary to write and submit her works into competitions from an early age. Winning Scarlet Stiletto was a great boost to her confidence and encouraged her to continue scribbling. Mary wrote short stories, poetry and, eventually, songs. She’s now a singer-songwriter and performs her w...

2011, the year Kim won the Scarlet Stiletto Judges’ Prize was the year her second novel, The Courier’s New Bicycle , was published. Being a creature of many colours, the novel was shortlisted for two crime fiction awards (Ned Kelly, Davitt) as well as making the Tiptree Honor Book list and winning two speculative fiction awards (Aurealis, Ditmar). Until that year, she really didn’t know if she cou...

Fiona Drury is a corporate writer and editor and an international exhibition agent for major museums. She is originally from the UK and has lived in Melbourne for over 34 years. An avid reader and writer of crime fiction, Fiona is a long-time member of Sisters in Crime. Credits Concept designer, co-producer, and narrator: Susanna Lobez Co-producer: Carmel Shute ProductionManager: Tim Coy Graphic D...

Cock-a-Hoop was inspired by a true story told to sarah Evans at a rural community event celebrating women where she was a speaker. At the time she was home schooling my children and attempting to live a sustainable lifestyle. Between teaching, growing and harvesting produce, she was also writing short stories for competitions and novels for publication. Winning the prize for the Scarlet Stiletto f...

Author of Death in the Skies, 2020 winner of Scarlet Stiletto Award & Mystery with History Award.. Jessica has always been able to put a string of words together. Throughout school, she won quite a few small writing competitions and she always knew that regardless of what else she did, she wanted writing to be a part of her future in some way, shape or form. She moved to the UK in search of ad...

Liz Filleul won the Scarlet Stiletto Award in 2004 and in 2011 she came close to doing it again, with her story “Crime Traveller”, taking out both second prize and the Cross-Genre Award. Liz hoped her Scarlet Stiletto success would be a springboard to a career as a novelist. And it did actually lead to having a detective novel, set in the world of vintage children’s fiction collectors, published b...

Romany won the Scarlet Stiletto Award for short crime fiction and also the Art and Crime Category for 2023. By day Romany helps organisations share their true stories; by night she writes no-quite-so-true stories which have been published in places like The Canberra Times and the Newcastle Short Story Awards. She is also a winner of Furious Fiction. She lives on the land of the Ngunnawal and Ngamb...

Roxxy Bent is a founder of Vitalstatisix Theatre Company. She wrote award winning plays for Vitals and other companies; several of which have been published in anthologies. She has also written for the screen. She has worked as an actor and writer on multiple community projects. Winning two Scarlet Stilettos, for best short crime fiction in 2002 and 2006, inspired Roxxy to complete a Masters in Cr...

We all feel cynical sometimes, don't we? Today on Scarlet's Stiletto Bites, we meet a super cynic. She's seen everything, but her cynicism leads her to discover seriously sinister crimes. Louisa by Christina Lee, the Scarlett's Stiletto winner in 1996. Christina Lee won the Scarlet Stiletto twice, much to her surprise, in 1992 and 1994, with an Honourable Mention or Third Place or something in bet...

Back in 2009, when Amanda won the Scarlet Stiletto with her story, “Persia Bloom”, the ex-hairdresser was busy being mum to three young boys and helping to care for her terminally ill father. Winning the award on her first attempt gave Amanda the courage to continue writing, going on to be short-listed in the Stilettos a further three times, participate on the judging panel for two years and co-wr...

Janis Spehr lives in northern Victoria. She has published five story collections and a novel with Ginninderra Press. She is currently writing her second novel. THE BLUE DOOR. Her writing journey has taken her away from crime fiction, but she retains fond memories of the Scarlet Stiletto. She won the first prize two years on the trot, in 1999 and 2000. Credits Concept designer, co-producer, and nar...