‘Arrives and lands with a thrilling confidence, quickly establishing an atmosphere that is subtle but indelible.’ Emma Paterson on the 2019 Winner
‘Eclectic, accomplished, bursting with life – an act of literature in discovery. It pushes and pulls the reader in all sorts of directions, yet remains centred around one consistent premise: the joy of the written word’ Kit Caless
‘An amazingly diverse list. All the stories have their own unique energy and power.’ Zoe Gilbert
‘One of the best multi-author short-story collections that I have read in recent years. The 2019 Longlist achieved an impressive feat, demonstrating the variety and power of the form.’ Jarred McGinnis
First Prize: A Body Is an Empty Vessel, James Mitchell
Second Prize: Life with Animals, Rosanna Hildyard
Third Prize: Hot Butter on Repeat, Judith Wilson
Shortlisted Stories:
The Girls, Isha Karki
The Four Kind Women, Melody Razak
The Weight of Nothing, Toby Wallis
Longlisted Stories:
Black Gull Beach, Ellen Hardy
Lowenna’s mother-in-law, Holly Barratt
Olive and Red, Kerry Hood
One for Sorrow or, In the Garden of
Wasted Things, T. Schroeder
Open House, Emily Bullock
The Littoral Zone, Sylvia Warren
PODCAST: Listen to 2019 1st Prize winner James Mitchell chat to our bookseller/SSP director Kate Ellis and MIR’s Peter J Coles about his winning story ‘A Body is An Empty Vessel’, writing, ASMR, and books.
2019 Prize Judges
She’s a co-founder of London Lit Lab, where she teaches creative writing. She was also a previous attendee of the Brick Lane Bookshop writer’s group.
Zoe says “I love stories that surprise me – be that with their form, language, imagery, plot or attitude.”
Kit is after “Writing that plays with form, writing with a strong voice, a story that hasn’t been told before.”
Emma is looking for “a story that pays attention to language, atmosphere and place, and a story that lands.”