Below are the 10 anonymous finalists in The Six Pack competition 2008. They were chosen from almost 500 entries after a long and painstaking assessment process. There can only be six pieces of new writing in The Six Pack - five of them will be chosen by our panel of celebrity judges and the sixth will be chosen by you, our readers.

The six winners will be announced at the launch of NZ Book Month at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington on Sunday, August 31. Each winner will receive a $5,000 prize and have their writing published in The Six Pack 2008 anthology, which will be on sale for $6 at bookshops nationwide from that date onwards.

Click here to find out more about NZ Book Month. To read more about our celebrity judges, the judging process and last years’ winners, click here

Now, New Zealand, you can have your say by voting for your favourite piece of writing and be in the draw to win $200 of NZ Booksellers Book Tokens, and don’t forget to subscribe to NZ Book Month to receive monthly updates.

To read a synopsis click on the title of the story.
Write Poetry Read Write Poetry Vote Write Poetry

I've been writing poetry for a few years, but most of the time it's a small circle of friends who get to read or hear any of it. I wouldn't have even entered The Six Pack competition if my friend, Alice, hadn't encouraged (or dared) me to. I hope the four poems selected each have an individual appeal and voice.

Mirror, Mirror Read Mirror, Mirror Vote Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, Mirror came about whilst shaving one day. I was pulling my face into contortions as you do sometimes to get those awkward bits! The idea that my mirror image might suddenly walk away (or have a life or universe of its own)... intrigued me.

I wanted to explore the idea of reality. Is our reality true?

The story hints at the main characters own mental instability but also suggests that there might be something more 'surreal' to explain events. I hoped to provoke and to challenge the reader to reconsider what is real and what is not.

Virtuoso Read Virtuoso Vote Virtuoso

Virtuoso was sparked by something I saw in real life: an ill man being circled incessantly by a fly. In my story, it’s a busy lawyer called Ewen who witnesses this. He’s (reluctantly) attending a lunchtime concert featuring the son of an school friend. Trapped in the middle of a pew for the duration, he has to watch the fly. I wrote the story to find out what happens to Ewen after he leaves the concert.

Te Tuahine Read Te Tuahine Vote Te Tuahine

Te Tuahine is a tribute to Maori culture; the language of Aotearoa and the beauty of her landscape. There is a great belief of Whakapapa in this land, an idea that stretches far beyond genealogy; the idea that you cannot move forward without knowing where you came from. Interspersed with Maori poetry and folk songs, Te Tuahine follows the writer’s quest to find himself, not only in the surroundings of the concrete city, but in the depths of his childhood memories, discovering the true inexplicable link between the ghosts of his past and the giants of his present.

Swallow Read Swallow Vote Swallow

Anna’s Aunty Ginny is coming to dinner, with her fiance from Christchurch. Anna wants to put on a play for her favourite aunt, involving a White Rabbit, a Queen and a girl called Alice. While Mum drives to the ferry to collect the guests, Anna is left to set the table, organise the backdrop, the costumes and the rehearsals. If Anna can get everything perfect, Aunty Ginny, with her famous blue eyes, will clap and cheer - but Dad, brother Jim, and sister Merilyn each have their own plans for the afternoon.

'88 Read '88 Vote '88

1988 was the year of the Summer Olympics in South Korea. It was also the year of the Otara machete murder. For Samoan girl Fia, these two separate and distinct events dramatically collide in her mind. This story is about resilience and hope during a time of social change.

Water Whirler Read Water Whirler Vote Water Whirler

I work in Wellington, and I often go for a lunchtime walk along the waterfront, following the same path that the main character takes on his way to his important meeting with Jess. So that provided the setting for Water Whirler. The main character is a self-absorbed, and sadly unaware young man. The story is told from his perspective, but I tried to write it so that the reader has more insight into his situation than he has.

Gary Manawatu Read Gary Manawatu Vote Gary Manawatu

With the 2008 passing of Sir Edmund Hillary and Hone Tuwhare two mighty kauri have fallen in our collective forest, however, it saddens me that the untimely demise of a man I consider of equal stature was met with as little ceremony as a slasher gives another bit of scrub/manuka. Perhaps I am the only one who felt Gary’s loss? Regardless, it has come to me to honour the man - artist, thinker, heart-stopper, fencer extraordinaire. As his name suggests, Gary embodied the spirit of the Manawatu. Spin on you crazy turbo!

No Time for Pies Read No Time for Pies Vote No Time for Pies

I love kiwi storytelling. I come from a family of story tellers and all my friends are expert yarn spinners. No Time for Pies sprang from a desire to tell one of those tall tales. I started with a classic tale - a man picks up a mysterious hitch-hiker on a lonely road - and then just had fun with it. Along the way the journey took a few unexpected twists and turns for me as well.

Three poems Read Three poems Vote Three poems

Poems can tell stories too, and the characters in the poems I submitted for The Six Pack are all fictional. 'Dry ice' was triggered by the work of New Zealand photographer Anne Noble and the American Annie Leibovitz, each of whom has taken powerful and (for some viewers) uncomfortable pictures of people close to them in the final stages of their lives. Although it wasn't consciously intended, I suspect the closing image of the poem may have its roots in the fate of Air New Zealand Flight 901 on Mt Erebus.