Holly Miller. Photo credit: Ruby Kawiti.
Recent graduate Holly Miller was named the Pacific regional winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, a global competition celebrating the best unpublished short fiction from across the Commonwealth. This year’s competition attracted nearly 8,000 entries from writers around the world
Holly’s winning story, Second Skin, was developed through a Fiction Writing course and has since been published by leading literary magazine Granta.
Set on a farm in the Southern Alps, Second Skin follows a woman named Nina who discovers the body of a lamb in the snow and must prepare its skin for fostering, a farming practice where the coat of a stillborn lamb is used to help another lamb be accepted by a ewe.
Holly says the unusual yet deeply human idea became the emotional foundation of the story.
“I’m not sure if it is common knowledge, but often, if a lamb is stillborn, the coat may be used to ‘dress’ another lamb that is a triplet or has been abandoned for whatever reason, and that will encourage the mother to ‘adopt’ it.
“It is just such a strange yet beautiful concept, and I think that it is also quite human in that we similarly morph ourselves so that we are accepted by others.”
She says themes of belonging and survival frequently appear throughout her work.
Holly says learning she had won the Pacific regional category was initially difficult to believe.
“I had just fed my puppy her breakfast and was still groggy brained and blurry eyed from a lack of sleep, so when I opened the email I couldn’t make sense of it. I thought it must be a scam!
“Once it settled in, I just felt immense, overwhelming gratitude. I don’t know what it was that made my story stand out amongst a wealth of other incredible submissions, perhaps it was simply luck, but whatever it was, I am honoured.”
For Holly, the recognition has been deeply meaningful as an emerging writer.
“For something that I made to be appreciated by anyone, let alone the Commonwealth Foundation and a panel of international judges, there truly are no words to describe how significant that is to me as a beginner writer. It is life changing.”
The story was written during Holly’s undergraduate studies, with guidance from Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing Dr Thom Conroy.
Dr Conroy says, “I’m deeply thrilled to see Holly’s short story win the Pacific regional category of the Commonwealth Prize. I still vividly remember my first reading of Second Skin, it sent chills down my spine, and I told the other tutors on the course, ‘Here’s a story you have to read.’
“Fiction Writing has led to many student success stories in various competitions and it’s gratifying to see yet another student from this class find success with their work.”
Holly says one of the most valuable parts of studying creative writing at Massey has been the sense of community among writers.
“Writing is, by its very nature, a solitary process, but I found that it was only in sharing my work with my peers and giving and receiving feedback that all of my time spent staring at a screen felt worth something.”
She also credits Dr Conroy and her peers with helping shape Second Skin into its final form through constructive feedback and encouragement.
As a regional winner, Holly’s story is now in contention for the overall Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Holly hopes to continue developing her writing through postgraduate study in the future.
“I would love to be able to complete my Master of Creative Writing through Massey at some point because I want to give this whole writing thing everything I’ve got. The dream would be for this to become my career.”
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