Jan 15, 2021 | Joe Melia
Congratulations to 2017 BSSP shortlistee, Kate Lockwood Jefford, on winning the 2020 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize. Kate’s winning story, Picasso’s Face, can be read here. Judge Kate Clanchy calls the winning story “a beautifully sustained study of character and place, elegantly shaped and beautifully written.” Fellow judge, Derek Owusu, says Picasso’s Face is “a…
Jan 11, 2021 | Joe Melia
Great news for Sonal Kohli, who was shortlisted for the 2019 Bristol Short Story Prize with her story, The Outing; Sonal has been signed by literary agent, Seren Adams, at United Agents. And in more good news, Sonal’s collection of linked stories, The House Next to the Factory, will be published by HarperCollins India in…
Dec 18, 2020 | Joe Melia
More exciting news for another of our 2016 shortlistees: Tom Watson’s debut novel, Metronome, will be published by Bloomsbury in spring 2022. Bloomsbury’s publishing director, Emma Herdman, quoted in The Bookseller says: “Tom’s novel is one of the most atmospheric and visual books I’ve read in a long time. It’s speculative but deeply recognisable; beautifully…
Dec 16, 2020 | Joe Melia
Congratulations to Vimi Bajaj who has won the Literary category in this year’s Book Pipeline: Unpublished writing competition. The Book Pipeline: Unpublished competition is for unpublished manuscripts in six fiction and non-fiction categories: Literary, Mystery / Thriller, Sci-Fi / Fantasy, Young Adult, Middle Grade and Non-fiction. As well as $2,500, each category winner receives “immediate…
Nov 26, 2020 | Joe Melia
Jane Healey, who was shortlisted for the 2013 Bristol Short Story Prize, has been announced as the winner of the Historical Writers’ Association’s (HWA) Debut Crown Award for 2020. The prestigious award is presented to the year’s best “historical novel by a first-time fiction author of any nationality first published in the UK in English.”…
Oct 29, 2020 | Joe Melia
Congratulations to our 2011 winner, Emily Bullock, whose second novel is published today. The novel, Inside the Beautiful Inside, is based on the true story of James Norris an American marine who was chained to a stake for fourteen years in Bethlem Hospital for the Insane in London in the early nineteenth century. It has…
Oct 27, 2020 | Joe Melia
Stephen Narain, a writer and teacher based in Orlando, Florida, was recently announced as the winner of this year’s Bristol Short Story Prize for his brilliant story, What In Me Is Dark, Illumine. Stephen, who was raised in the Bahamas by Guyanese parents, has an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and has…
Oct 21, 2020 | Joe Melia
Happy publication day to Jennifer Harvey whose second novel, No More Secrets is officially published today by Bookouture in paperback, ebook and audiobook. This is Jennifer’s second novel to be published this year and looks set to follow the great reception her debut, Someone Else’s Daughter, received. Here’s an extract from the publicity for No…
Oct 11, 2020 | Joe Melia
Huge congratulations to Stephen Narain who has won the 2020 Bristol Short Story Prize for his story, What In Me Is Dark Illumine. Stephen, who is based in Orlando, Florida, was announced as the winner by judging panel chair, Billy Kahora, at our online awards ceremony yesterday. Tehila Lieberman won second prize and Faiza Hasan…
Sep 29, 2020 | Joe Melia
Congratulations to our 2015 winner, Brent van Staalduinen, whose new novel, BOY, was published recently by Canadian publisher, Dundurn Press. BOY is Brent’s second novel and has been receiving great praise: Miriam Toews calls it “Exquisite….BOY is a perfectly compelling protagonist”, while Timothy Taylor, author of The Rule of Stevens, says it is “A mesmerizing coming…
Sep 15, 2020 | Joe Melia
Congratulations to Uschi Gatward who has recently secured a book deal for her debut short story collection, English Magic. Uschi, who was shortlisted for the 2013 Bristol Short Story Prize, will have the collection published in 2021 by prestigious independent publisher, Galley Beggar Press. Commenting on The Bookseller website, Uschi said: “I’m very happy indeed that…
Jul 29, 2020 | Joe Melia
We are thrilled to announce the 2020 Bristol Short Story Prize shortlist. These 20 stories will be published in our 13th anthology and the 20 writers are all in the running for this year’s top prize. The winner of the 2020 Bristol Short Story Prize will be announced on October 10th. The two runners up…
Jul 22, 2020 | Joe Melia
We are delighted to announce the longlist for the 2020 Bristol Short Story Prize. All judging decisions have been made and we are thrilled to introduce the 40 writers and stories in the running for this year’s top prize. A huge thank you to all the writers from across the world who sent in their…
Jun 29, 2020 | Joe Melia
Great news for last year’s BSSP third prize winner, S. Bhattacharya-Woodward; Shaoni has been signed by literary agent, Matthew Turner, at the prestigious Rogers Coleridge and White Literary Agency. The agency represents some of the highest profile writers currently at work, including Zadie Smith, Ian Rankin, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Kate Atkinson. Shaoni also recently won…
Jun 25, 2020 | Joe Melia
Many congratulations to J.R. McConvey who has been awarded a Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for his debut collection of stories, Different Beasts. Published last year, the collection of 12 stories includes Between the Pickles, which won second prize in the 2015 Bristol Short Story Prize. Kobo, based in Canada and one of the world’s largest…
