Stories by Zadie Smith, Tessa Hadley, Lionel Shriver, Rose Tremain and newcomer Francesca Rhydderch nominated for £15,000 prize
Zadie Smith at The Paris Review 2014 Spring Revel, New York Photo: Sipa USA/REX
For the third time in the award’s history an all-female shortlist has been announced for the £15,000 BBC Short Story Award. The annual prize, which began in 2006, was won last year by Sarah Hall and this year authors such as Zadie Smith and Lionel Shriver are up for the award.
Nearly all of this year’s stories deal with critical moments in the lives of female characters – from a teenager’s encounter with mortality to a woman recalling the anguish of a disfiguring love affair.
Rose Tremain and Lionel Shriver have previously been nominated for BBC Short Story Awards. Smith, for her part, has said she has "only recently become comfortable with the form". Her story,
The Embassy of Cambodia, was published in book form last year.
The final nominee is relative newcomer Francesca Rhydderch, a Welsh author whose debut novel, The Rice Paper Diaries, won the Wales Book of the Year Award for Fiction 2014.
The Embassy of Cambodia, was published in book form last year.
The final nominee is relative newcomer Francesca Rhydderch, a Welsh author whose debut novel, The Rice Paper Diaries, won the Wales Book of the Year Award for Fiction 2014.
Alan Yentob, chair of judges for this year’s award, remarked: “The short story form has a unique ability to capture a single defining moment. It invites us to dive headfirst into another world and to savour an experience which can remain with us for a very long time to come. In their very different ways these five stories do just that.”
This year’s winner will be announced at a ceremony held at BBC Broadcasting House’s Radio Theatre on Tuesday September 30.
Zadie Smith’s shortlisted story, Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets, will be published in the Telegraph and on telegraph.co.uk on Saturday.
The full shortlist is as follows:
Bad Dreams by Tessa Hadley
The Taxidermist's Daughter by Francesca Rhydderch
Kilifi Creek by Lionel Shriver
Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets by Zadie Smith
The American Lover by Rose Tremain
For further information on the award, please visit www.booktrust.org.uk/bbcnssa
This year’s winner will be announced at a ceremony held at BBC Broadcasting House’s Radio Theatre on Tuesday September 30.
Zadie Smith’s shortlisted story, Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets, will be published in the Telegraph and on telegraph.co.uk on Saturday.
The full shortlist is as follows:
Bad Dreams by Tessa Hadley
The Taxidermist's Daughter by Francesca Rhydderch
Kilifi Creek by Lionel Shriver
Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets by Zadie Smith
The American Lover by Rose Tremain
For further information on the award, please visit www.booktrust.org.uk/bbcnssa
