In 2026 The Echo is turning 40 – and something we have learnt is that our community loves a good story. One way or another, we have been in the business of publishing your stories, and you have been in the business of telling them. To celebrate this momentous occasion, we want to do what we have always done, and that is – give your ideas and creativity a platform!
Must include hook
That’s why The Echo have joined forces with Creative Mullum to relaunch The Echo Short Story Competition. Budding writers, old timers, and first-time flyers are invited to submit a story of up to 500-1,500 words with the hook ‘Hitchhiker’.
The story hook is a writing ignition device to ensure that stories submitted are new and that they have a unique thematic emblem. The hook can be buried in a sentence, far off in the distance, it could be the name of a band playing at a pub, or it could be the mainstay of your story!
We have an adult category and a youth category for 18 and under with first prize for the adults of $1,000, and $500 for the youth category.
Expert judges
There will be a host of other prizes for finalists who will be invited, if selected, to present their story in a live storytelling performance at our very first Mullum Moth hosted by Mandy Nolan and Creative Mullum, on 1 April, 2026.
Stories will be judged by local writers and industry experts and open to anyone in the Northern Rivers. Each writer is able to submit up to, but no more than, two entries.
Getting published
We will be publishing selected stories as they come in so the sooner you get those stories in, the sooner we can start making them live on The Echo online.
At the end of the competition Creative Mullum will also have a bunch of the community stories published on their website.
Stories can be submitted by visiting www.creativemullum.org.au/writerscomp and entries are open now and close on 28 February, 2026. So, if you want a project for the Christmas break – step away from the ham, and get those creative juices flowing!
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
