VPLAs People’s Choice AwardVote Now

VPLAs People’s Choice AwardVote Now

I Made This Just for You

Title: I Made This Just for You
Author: Chris Ames


Shortlist: Unpublished Manuscript

Judges’ report

I Made This Just for You is a short story collection that considers the nature of work, intimacy and selfhood as mediated via technology. It is by turns speculative, funny, clever, surreal and deeply felt. Characters in the stories train computer programs to recognise cats, write copy for relaxation apps, repeat viral reactions for live audiences. They throw their phones into sinkholes to avoid texting back, slowly meld into one another via plastic surgery, and build underground housing compounds in which they amass one hundred possible replacements in the case of their untimely death. Stories take the form of search results, voicemail messages and crossword puzzles. Within premises that are at times high concept and absurd are emotions that are incredibly human.

The judges found the stories in I Made This Just for You smart, funny, uncomfortable and thought provoking. The collection stood out for just how well-crafted it was – tight, polished and beautiful at both structural and sentence levels.

Extract

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About the Author

Chris Ames

VPLA book photography by Sarah Walker

The 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards are proudly supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund and Creative Victoria.