Jay McKenzie

Originally a performing arts teacher from the UK, Jay McKenzie now reads, writes and procrastinates in the Northern Rivers region of Australia via calling Greece, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea home. Her short fiction has been published in adda, Furphy, Fractured Lit, Midway Journal and others.

She has received awards and recognition at home and internationally in the Furphy Award, Roly Sussex, Exeter Story Prize, Henshaw, Quiet Man Dave, Edinburgh Short Story Award, Oxford Flash Fiction Prize, Exeter Novel Prize, Tom Grass Prize, Alpine Fellowship, Bath Short Story Award, Bath Flash Fiction Award, Aesthetica, Bridport Prize and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
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Recent wins include the 2025 Fish Short Story Prize, the Danahy Prize for Fiction and Terrain’s Writing Prize. Her novel, How to Lose the Lottery was published with Harper Collins in March 2026.