Pauline Shen

In this post, we’ll be hearing from prolific short story writer Anne Wilkins. She updates us on her writing projects and awards, while also offering us a glimpse into her support system and role models. If you missed our original interview, find it here: Interview with Anne Wilkins

Check out Anne’s author bio:

Pauline: Anne! Your publication list has grown significantly since our last interview. Do you ever worry you’ll run out of story ideas? What pushes you to continue writing?

Anne: I enjoy writing — that’s what pushes me to do it. Creating strange worlds and unusual characters and putting them in impossible situations. As the writer you’re in control, you get to decide what happens, whether someone lives or dies, whether good wins, and whether things are all wrapped up neatly at the end or if you dangle a few questions for the reader to think on.

All of that is so much fun, especially when you write something that you yourself enjoy reading. The icing on the cake is when others enjoy reading your writing too. 

I have a big bank of story ideas to call upon. Some are big meaty pieces, others are just a fledgling of an idea. I have a document where I keep them all as I simply don’t have enough time to write them all up.

So I write the idea down before it flits away, in the hope that when I have time I can eventually pull it out and give it the proper attention it needs. I also have a number of very short stories, even drabbles that I could turn into bigger stories, if time allowed. At the moment I’m not worried about running out of story ideas, I’m more worried about running out of time. I’m 51 and there are so many stories I want to write. 

P: What did 2025-26 look like for you? What’s on the horizon for 2027?

A: I track my achievements on my website page ‘Publications, Achievements & Awards’. It helps to keep me accountable. 2025 by far was the most productive for me. I had around forty stories published or on a podcast. This included my first publications with Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Cast of Wonders and The Dark, all dream publications that I’d been submitting to for quite some time.

In addition to the publications I was also placing in competitions. I won the Fear Writing Battle. I was a finalist in the 2024 London Independent Story Prize (LISP), the 2025 Bristol Short Story Prize, and the 2025 Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Literary Prize. 

And I was asked to be a presenter at the New Zealand Speculative Fiction Summit as well as being appointed as a preliminary judge for Elegant Literature.

So 2025 was big! 

In 2026 I’m still trucking along. My biggest achievement this year has been winning the “Outstanding Achievement for a Short Story” award for The Cold Burns at the 2026 Te Pae Tawhiti Distant Horizon Awards. I was also a finalist for the 2026 Sir Julius Vogel Awards for Best Short Story (for “The Cold Burns” again) and Best New Talent. I also won another Writing Battle, the 2026 Verdant Owl, making it my third writing battle win overall! 

In terms of publications, I’m looking at around twenty publications or podcasts so far with a few scheduled to be published later this year. I’ve had a second story published in Clarkesworld, and they have accepted my first novelette, called The Slither Beneath the Sand which I’m very excited about. 

So 2026 is big too!

In saying all that, I want people to know that some of these stories I have had for ages. The Cold Burns was initially drafted for a Globe Soup competition back in January 2023. It was rejected by 14 places (often coming very close) before being accepted by Clarkesworld in 2025. I kept tinkering away on it because I believed, and my husband believed, it had good bones. This is true of many of my stories that have been accepted for publication, they’ve been ones that have been revised, often expanded/fleshed out, and have taken some time to find their forever home. So, the message is don’t delete any of your stories! Hang on to them, revise them, and keep trying to find them homes.

P: Who are your mentors or role models? Tell us about one person who has inspired or supported you in your journey as a writer. 

A: My husband has been my biggest support. He’s my cheerleader when I feel down about rejections. He will let me go off on my computer to my imaginary worlds and never complains, but encourages me. He helps me to scrape aside some time from our busy lives to allow me to actually write, and he is always, always there to read my stories and give me good and honest feedback. He also gives the best hugs.

My daughters, Rebecca and Julia, too are also super supportive. Julia herself is an author in her own right, and Rebecca dabbles from time to time. 

If my Mum was still alive I know she’d also be super supportive, she was right up until the time of her death in 2024. She would read all my stories I sent her (even though she wasn’t a fan of speculative stuff), and I found some of my stories she’d kept when I was sorting through her things after her death which was pretty special.

My Dad died quite some time ago, but he was also encouraging of my writing when he was alive. He wrote his own book which was published by the family after his death. 

So yes, my family has been incredibly supportive. 

In terms of role models there are a number of authors I look up to for different things, but I don’t want to call any individuals out. There are authors who I admire for the sheer volume of work they submit, because let’s face it if you’re not submitting then you don’t have much chance of getting accepted. There are other authors I admire for their stories that show bold, inventive ideas or beautiful prose, or that have deeper messages with broader societal themes.

And there are authors I admire for just being generally nice human beings, who check in on you and who offer their support and guidance or are happy to read something you’ve written. So, many, many role models of authors I look up to in our writing community.   

P: Are there any online resources that you recommend for new writers?

Elegant Literature is a fabulous place for new writers. Check their definition of a new writer as it is quite broad. With Elegant Literature you can pay to submit to their monthly competition and be in with a chance to win their $3000 prize, or you can just submit to their magazine for free. They pay for the stories that they publish (professional rates 10c/word) and if you receive an honourable mention they pay as well. There is a monthly theme that you must write to (under 2000 words). Their magazine is superb. I have been lucky enough to have four stories published there, and in June 2024 I took out the $3000 monthly prize. My daughter, Julia Wilkins, had a similar experience. Now I’m one of the preliminary judges for the stories that come through.    

P: Anne, when writing, do you work best with music or silence?

A: Definitely silence. I especially love writing on my laptop in bed when it’s raining outside.

P: Besides writing, tell us about another art form you currently practice.

A: Does sleeping count? Maybe not.

I quite like drawing, especially hands. When I’m bored I’ll draw my left hand, sometimes in a fist, or curled like a claw, or pointing. Sometimes I’ll draw flowers. It’s a great way to pass time in boring meetings.

I like gardening, being around nature, but I don’t have much time for it at the moment. 

I also practise the art of patience quite a bit, since I’m a full time primary school teacher.

P: If you could transform one of your published short stories into a film, which one would it be? Who would you cast as the lead role(s)? What song(s) would be in the sound track?

A: I can’t choose — there’s a few. The Cold Burns would be good as a movie, and so would my novelette that isn’t out yet, The Slither Beneath the Sand, (it’s set on another planet). And my story that has a lot of nudity, that was a Kurt Vonnegut finalist, The Night of the Skins, would be perfect as a Love, Death + Robots episode. Even my Evil Wears Many Masks that’s coming out soon would be great on film (it’s a horror/sci-fi/Western mash up). So yeah, there’s a lot.

I’d have to cast my daughter, Julia, in one of the lead roles (but not in a nudie one!) because that’s her thing. She’s studying acting over in Australia, and I know she’d do an incredible job in whatever role she played.   

P: Anne, what’s next? 

A: Life. And sadly, turning 52. 

But seriously, I don’t know? I don’t have a crystal ball. I’ll keep on writing short stories in my spare time. I’m going to try and get my middle grade novels that have been languishing without love on my computer sent out into the world (I have started), and I keep promising myself that I need to write my young adult story that I’ve been thinking about. So there is that. 

And sleep. I need more sleep.

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