The BBC National Short Story Award

The BBC National Short Story Award celebrates the best of the contemporary British short story. Now in its fourth year, the Award continues to raise the profile of the short story. The inaugural Award went to James Lasdun for his short story An Anxious Man; in 2007 it was awarded to Julian Gough for his comic tale The Orphan and the Mob; and in 2008 the winner was Clare Wigfall for Numbers which appeared in her debut collection, The Loudest Sound and Nothing, published by Faber in 2007.

This year´s winning author will receive £15,000, the runner up £3,000, and the other three short listed stories will each be given £500. The Award is funded by the BBC and administered in partnership with the Booktrust.

Last year the Award attracted over 600 submissions. The five shortlisted stories will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 each afternoon from Monday 30th November to Friday 4th December.

The Award is part of a campaign to celebrate the short story genre and maintain its prestige across the literary world.  Scottish Book Trust helped establish the Award in 2006 as we believe that the short story is one of the most exciting and important literary forms, that can and should reach the widest possible readership. We believe that the short story matters.

Story's website, www.theshortstory.org.uk compiles information for short story readers, writers, publishers and agents, with reviews of new collections, a comprehensive listing of prizes, plus interviews, features and an archive of freely downloadable stories.