Only half are published authors.
Salley Vickers has been
nominated for the Costa Short Story Award Photo: Rex
Features
The identities of the six finalists shortlisted for the inaugural Costa Short
Story Award have been revealed today.
The six shortlisted authors are Guy le Jeune, Avril Joy, Sheila Llewellyn,
Chioma Okereke, Angela Readman and Salley Vickers.
Only three of the authors making the shortlist are published; Guy le Jeune,
Sheila Llewellyn and Angela Readman have yet to have their work published.
The new award, which was established this year, is unique in that it is
judged anonymously, so that the judges do not know the names of the authors of
the stories they read. The award is open to both published and unpublished
writers.
One of the authors shortlisted is Salley Vickers, who wrote the word-of-mouth
bestseller Miss Garnet’s Angel and several other bestselling novels.
The final six stories are:
Small Town Removal by Guy le Jeune.
Millie and Bird by Avril Joy.
Dislocation by Sheila Llewellyn.
Trompette de la Mort by Chioma Okereke
Don’t Try This at Home by Angela Readman
Mown Grass by Salley Vickers
The story that gets the most public votes will receive £3,500 at the Costa Book Awards Ceremony on Tuesday 29th January, with two runners-up each receiving £750.
The award is run in association with the Costa Books Awards but judged independently of the main five-category system.
For the main Costa Book of the Year award, bookmakers William Hill have novelist Hilary Mantel as odds-on favourites at 5-4.She was the winner of the Costa Novel Award with Bring Up the Bodies, her sequel to Wolf Hall.
