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 ebook and audiobook online retailers, present the Emerging Writer Prize of $10,000 in three categories to debut Canadian authors. Joel triumphed in the speculative fiction category.

Judge, Andrew Pyper, acclaimed prize-winning author of several novels including The Killing Circle and The Demonologist, commented: “The twelve stories of J.R. McConvey’s Different Beasts are, indeed, different and frequently beastly. This is involving, often surprising, tension-filled short fiction told with a cinematic eye – the kind of storytelling that burns certain images into the reader’s mind.”

We wish Joel continued success with the book and his future writing. It’s great news that many more readers will experience his unique storytelling.

J.R. McConvey won second prize in the 2015 Bristol Short Story Prize with his story, Between the Pickles. It was first published in our Volume 8 anthology: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Michael-Bird/Bristol-Short-Story-Prize–Volume-8/18160276