Published 13/09/21
The BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (NSSA) is an award that has enriched both the careers of writers and the wider literary landscape since its launch sixteen years ago.
For 2021 the shortlisted authors in this collection are:
All the People Were Mean and Bad by Lucy Caldwell
The Body Audit by Rory Gleeson
Maykopsky District, Adyghe Oblast by Richard Smyth
Night Train by Georgina Harding
Toadstone by Danny Rhodes*
For a shorlist discussion guide created by BBC Student Critics in conjunction with Cambridge University follow this link: https://teach.files.bbci.co.uk/teach/YWA_Shortlist_Discussion_2021_vF060921.pdf
All five stories will be broadcast daily on @BBCRadio4, starting Monday 21st September at 3:30pm. The winner will be announced live on Front Row on 19th October 2021.
The BBC NSSA is one of the most prestigious prizes for a single short story, with the winning author receiving GBP15,000, and four further shortlisted authors GBP600 each. The stories are broadcast on Radio 4 and published in an annual anthology.
James Runcie is joined on the judging panel by a group of acclaimed writers and critics including: Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Fiona Mozley; award winning writer, poet and winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize, Derek Owusu; multi-award winning Irish novelist and short story writer, Donal Ryan; and returning judge, Di Speirs, Books Editor at BBC Radio.
The 2020 winner of the BBC National Short Story Award was Sarah Hall for 'The Grotesques', a timeless and unsettling story set against a backdrop of privilege and inequality in a university town. Previous alumni of the award include Lionel Shriver, Zadie Smith, Hilary Mantel, Jon McGregor, Ingrid Persaud, Cynan Jones and Jo Lloyd.
*Danny Rhodes began as lecturer at CCCU in Creative and Professional Writing in 2010. He joined our staff on a permanent basis in September 2016. Danny is currently Level 4 Lead for our CPW students, module leader for Level 4 'Fiction, Drama and Poetry' and Level 5/6 modules 'The Novel' & 'Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror'. He lectures on our MA in Creative Writing and runs the 'Writing Comes Alive' programme. Danny is mostly interested in Contemporary Fiction, American Literature, The Short Story & Horror Literature. He is a member of The Society of Authors, The British Fantasy Society and The Horror Writers Association. His novels include Fan – Arcadia Books, April 2014; Soldier Boy – Maia Press, February 2009; and Asboville – Maia Press, October 2006 (A Waterstones Paperback of the Year 2006)
