A budding young author, Phoebe O’Brien of Year 11, won the Senior section of the Northern Beaches Young Writers’ Competition from over 550 entries across more than 50 local schools. ‘The Pavlova’ is a seemingly suburban tale that offers insight into Australian values surrounding family in a distorted and gothic fashion. Blowflies, maggots and the splash of defrosting meat all plunge the reader into a world of horror. You’ll find the story in all its glorious horror in the 2020 edition of Stellabration.