The Jack Whyte Storyteller’s Award
My short story Sleeper Catcher won the 2026 award — judged by Diana Gabaldon and Donald Maass.
How did a 1978 Little River Band album help me win a writing contest?
I first wrote Sleeper Catcher for a different contest — one that required two prompts: “a coin collector” and “a diversion.” I wanted a unique twist for the coin collector, and my mind landed on the 1978 Little River Band album Sleeper Catcher, whose cover featured a game of two-up, the Australian coin-tossing game. In two-up, the sleeper catcher is the player who pockets the bets left out too long.
I now had my coin-collector character. From there I researched the game and discovered it was popular with the troops at Gallipoli during the First World War. A deep dive into the Anzac campaign gave me a vibrant setting, historical details to challenge my character, and no shortage of diversions.
Who knew that the inquiring mind of fifteen-year-old me, forty-eight years later, would give me the inspiration for an award-winning story?
The Award
The 2026 Jack Whyte Storyteller’s Award · October 23, 2026.
Sleeper Catcher will be published in Pulp Literature Magazine in 2027.