Jake Dean writes stories and rides waves on Kaurna country, south of Adelaide, South Australia.

His debut short story collection, Flat Spell, is expected to be published with Wakefield Press in July 2027.

An earlier version of the manuscript was shortlisted for the 2025 Richell Prize.

Jake’s stories have been published in lots of journals and publications including  Griffith Review, The Saturday Paper, Overland, Going Down Swinging, Litro, Verandah Journal, The Saltbush Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal and Antithesis Journal.

He’s also been anthologised in collections published by Hardie Grant, MidnightSun Press, Recent Work Press and others.

Jake’s stories have won awards including the AAWP/UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize and the Microflix Best Writing Award, and been shortlisted for others including the Griffith Review Emerging Voices Competition, Newcastle Short Story Award and the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Writing.

Before all that, Jake had written nonfiction for The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Crikey, Surfing World, SLAM Skateboarding Magazine, Kill Your Darlings, Overland, White Horses, Junkee, VICE Sports, Great Ocean Quarterly, Broadsheet, Swellnet, Riptide, Movement Magazine and other places.

Jake is a former magazine editor and newspaper journalist, and has done lots of other jobs such as media/comms guy, kitchenhand and retaining wall labourer.

He has run out of things to say on his About page.

Photo by Ferruco de Paz