After a year spanning the globe for the finest international talent, the BBC National Short Story Award returns for 2013 to celebrate the best in homegrown short fiction. Submissions for the Award, now in its eighth year, are open from today. Mariella Frostrup will chair the judging panel for the Award, one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning author receiving £15,000. The runner-up receives £3,000 and three further shortlisted authors £500 each.
The judges are:
- Mariella Frostrup, journalist, television presenter and arts critic
- Novelist and short story writer, Mohsin Hamid
- Arvon tutor, novelist and short story writer, Peter Hobbs
- Deborah Moggach, screenwriter, novelist and short story writer
- Editor of
The Award is now open for submissions from publishers, agents and published authors from the UK
The shortlist will be announced on Friday 20 September with each of the five stories broadcast on BBC Radio 4 the following week. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 8 October. As in previous years, the five stories will also be published in a special anthology and be available for free audio download.
Gwyneth Williams, Controller, BBC Radio 4, said:
‘I am thrilled that Radio 4 continues to support the BBC National Short Story Award in 2013. Radio is a natural home for the short story – we never grow out of the joy of having a story read to us – and we are proud to commission and broadcast on Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra more short stories than anyone, anywhere in the world. This Award is a wonderful way of celebrating the short story and its talented writers.’