BBC National Short Story Award shortlist announced

In the UK, the shortlist has been announced for this year’s BBC National Short Story Award. The shortlisted writers and their short stories are: Zadie Smith for ‘Miss Adele amidst the Corsets’; Rose Tremain for ‘The American Lover’; Lionel Shriver for ‘Kilifi Creek’; Tessa Hadley for ‘Bad Dreams’; and Francesca Rhydderch for ‘The Taxidermist’s Daughter’. This is the second successive year that the prize has featured an all-women shortlist. The winner will be announced on 30 September and will receive £15,000 (A$27,237). One runner-up will receive £3000 (A$5447) and the three remaining shortlisted writers will each receive £500 (A$908). The stories will be read on BBC Radio 4 from 22 September by actors including Carey Mulligan and Rebecca Hall, and will published in an anthology by Comma Press. The Guardian has links to Hadley, Smith and Shriver’s stories here.