Kerikeri writer wins 2026 regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize
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.’
