Holly Ann Miller From Aotearoa New Zealand Wins 2026 Regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize For Pacific

• 30-year-old from Kerikeri wins for ‘Second Skin’, an examination of familial belonging in which the boundaries between humanity and nature are blurred
• Judges impressed by ‘meticulously constructed, stiflingly atmospheric tale of motherhood, family and betrayal’.
• The Massey University graduate is a new writer and first-time entrant to the prize, having been commended in the AAALS Short Story competition 2025 and NYC Midnight Short Story competition 2025.

Holly Ann Miller, from Aotearoa New Zealand, has won the 2026 regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Pacific region for her story ‘Second Skin’. Miller, who cites Tandia by Bryce Courtenay as a key influence, began focusing on her writing last year, fulfilling a childhood dream.

Holly is one of five regional winners of the world’s most global literary prize, announced by the Commonwealth Foundation. The 30-year-old from Kerikeri will go through to the final round of judging, and the overall winner will be announced on 30 June.

Her winning story, ‘Second Skin’, is set on a sheep farm in the Southern Alps of New Zealand at lambing time. When she discovers a dead lamb in the snow, the young farmer, Nina, has to take the actions necessary to encourage the mother to ‘adopt’ another lamb, by wrapping it in the dead lamb’s skin. As she waits to see if the ewe will accept the replacement lamb, Nina reflects on the emotions around her own family life.

Holly says ‘the idea of lamb fostering came to me as interesting subject matter for a story, because it is such a strange idea that is both grotesque and beautiful; to take the coat of a dead lamb to fool its mother into adopting and, thus, saving another. It made me think how we, as humans, similarly modify ourselves in some degree or another to more resemble those that we want to accept us.’

Commenting on her win, Miller said, ‘I don’t think I have ever experienced a feeling like this and, honestly, I don’t know if it will ever feel truly real. Stories allow readers to step into another’s reality, and to be a writer is to transport someone into that imagined world and return them changed. To know that something I created had a meaningful effect on anyone, let alone a panel of international judges, there are no words. I used to dream of being a writer, but it was such a precious dream that I didn’t want to break it through actually trying. I’m so glad that I took the leap. Being made Regional Winner for the Pacific has validated that childhood ambition and given me a sense of purpose that I have spent my entire life searching for. I am honoured and humbled to be selected as the 2026 Pacific Regional Winner. I hope it inspires more dreamers to be brave.’

The judge representing the Pacific region, poet, illustrator and author Maxine Beneba Clarke from Australia said ‘Second Skin is a meticulously constructed, stiflingly atmospheric tale of motherhood, family and betrayal. The story vividly conjures an ordinary working farm and its inhabitants, in all their messiness, mistakes, yearning, and duplicity. Holly Ann Miller’s descriptions of nature, birth, butchery and the environment are lyrical but uncomfortable; beautiful as well as brutal. A slow burn at first, the narrative cleverly builds towards a startling and impactful ending.’

Chair of the Judges, Louise Doughty, said of the regional winners: ‘Here are five writers who share an immense confidence of tone, announcing themselves from the very first line. The style and content of each work may vary, but what all our winning authors have in common is an ability to take their readers by the hand and lead them into a world where the characters are utterly believable, the prose assured, and the author has something important to say.’

The winning stories are:

Africa: ‘Me and Ma'am’ by Lisa-Anne Julien (South Africa)

Asia: ‘Mehendi Nights’ by Sharon Aruparayil (India)

Canada/Europe: ‘The Bastion's Shadow’ by John Edward DeMicoli (Malta)

Caribbean: ‘The Serpent in the Grove’ by Jamir Nazir (Trinidad and Tobago)

Pacific: ‘Second Skin’ by Holly Ann Miller (New Zealand)

About the author: Holly Ann Miller began her creative writing journey in 2025 and, that same year, received honourable mention in both the 2025 NYC Midnight Short Story Competition and the AAASL Short Story Competition. She holds a BA in English Literature and Philosophy from Massey University and hopes to complete an MCW through them in future. She lives and works in the beautiful Bay of Islands on the East Coast of Aotearoa.

About Maxine Beneba Clarke (judge for the Pacific region)

Maxine Beneba Clarke is the author of over fifteen books for adults and children, including the ABIA and Indie award-winning short fiction collection Foreign Soil, the critically acclaimed bestselling memoir The Hate Race, the self-illustrated picture book When We Say Black Lives Matter, which was longlisted for the UK’s Kate Greenaway Medal, and the CBCA Honour Book The Patchwork Bike (illustrated by Van T Rudd), which won the 2019 Boston Globe Horn Prize for Best Picture Book. Her poetry collections include Carrying the World, which won the 2017 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry, How Decent Folk Behave, and It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people, which won the 2024 ABIA for Book of the Year for Younger Readers. Maxine is the inaugural Peter Steele Poet in Residence at the University of Melbourne (2023-2025).

About the Commonwealth Short Story Prize

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is administered by the Commonwealth Foundation. The prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £2,500 GBP, and the overall winner receives £5,000 GBP. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. The winning stories are published online by Granta and in a special print collection by Paper + Ink.

About the Commonwealth Foundation

The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation mandated by its member countries to advance the interests of Commonwealth civil society. Upholding a firm commitment to the principles and ideals of the Commonwealth, the Foundation seeks to nurture the growth of vibrant and free societies: championing the active and constructive participation of people in all aspects of governance.

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