2021 Short Story Prize - Brick Lane Bookshop

Brick Lane Bookshop New Short Stories 2022 is available now.

Featuring stories from: Shazia J. Altaf, Avril Caprani, Imogen Fox, Emily Gaywood-James, Giovanna Iozzi, Bonnie Lander Johnson, Miki Lentin, Max Lury, Rosaleen Lynch, Yvette Naden, Hannah Retallick, and Martha Sprackland

‘Exceptional stories, each so startlingly different, yet all stay with you. A true celebration of the short-story form.’ Huma Qureshi

1st Prize: ‘Earth-Grown Bodies’ by Aoife Inman

2nd Prize: ‘WATCH AND SUBSCRIBE [. . .] by Danielle Vrublevskis

3rd Prize: ‘Reputation Management’ by Katherine Gutierrez

Shortlisted stories:

‘Details’ by Leeor Ohayon

‘Donal’ by JP Pangilinan-O’Brien

‘Sugar’ by Nayela Wickramasuriya

Longlisted stories:

‘Deadlifting’ by Nicholas Kemp

‘Overworld’ by Kate Horsley

‘Our Name Means Unique’ by Madeleine Dunnigan

‘Stolen’ by Ramya Jegatheesan

‘Tapestry’ by Aisha Phoenix

‘The Spot’ by Aden Jamal

Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize Longlist 2021

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‘The longlist gave such diverse reading pleasures, yet every story, without exception, allowed me to enter worlds which felt carefully realised and full of possibility. As a short story writer and reader, I don’t need much convincing of the special power of the form, but these entries confirmed it once more – and most emphatically!’ Wendy Erskine

‘A joy to discover these fresh voices in fiction. This collection of stories is exciting in range and originality, both in subject and form.’ Elise Dillsworth

‘I was struck by the breadth, ambition and flair of the stories in the prize. This anthology presents a thrilling sample of distinctive new talent at work today and highlights some exciting emerging writers for us all to follow.’ Kishani Widyaratna

Photos from the 2021 Book Launch Event (the first real-life event at Brick Lane Bookshop in two years!), prize – judge Elise Dillsworth announced the winners:

Longlisted Writers:

Long-Longlist 2021

A Breath is a Motion is the Air Rising is Water Flowing – Adam Welch

A Man in Half – Matthew Hurt

A Summer in Flames – Karen Waldron

Alice and the Whale – Eleanore Taylor

Battle Cry – Marc Joan

Camellias – Vivian Hassan-Lambert

Chip Shop Pathos – Alberta Gutteridge

Come the Fox – Sean Hannaway

Deadlifting – Nicholas Kemp

Details – Leeor Ohayon

Donal – JP Pangilinan-O’Brien

Earth-Grown Bodies – Aoife Inman

Export Quality – Rashi Rohatgi

Fridge on the Lawn – Sophie Hampton

Girl with Goldfish – Coggin Galbreath

I Saw A Bird – Adam Howard

Like Normal People – Maureen Cullen

Lima Oscar Victor Echo – Dave Wakeley

Ma’s Favourite – Linda Wang

Michael – James Young

More Than The Ear Can Hold – Katy Castle

Our Name Means Unique – Madeleine Dunnigan

Out of Body: Six Questions to Ask Google – Frances Salter

Overworld – Kate Horsley

Oxymorons – Emily Walker

Polite Young Men – Devi Khanna

Reputation Management – Katherine Gutierrez

Stolen – Ramya Jegatheesan

Sugar – Nayela Wickramasuriya

Sweet and Wet – Rachel wild

Tapestry – Aisha Phoenix

Target Practice – Alun Evans

The Arrival Fallacy – Hannah Sutherland

The Goat – Virginia Hartley

The Hesitant – David Micklem

The Octopus – Eleanor Shearer

The Patron Saint of Visas – Arathi Menon

The Retreat – Abigail Chandler

The Spot – Aden Jamal

The Valley – Ben’J Jordon

There’s No Harm in Bending the Truth a Little – Yvonne Singh

Vintage Heaven – Mary Byrne

WATCH AND SUBSCRIBE!! Artemisia eats entire Chicken Shop Menu – Mukbang LIVE! – Danielle Vrublevskis

Watching Birds – Alice Graham

We Care – Susan Axbey

What would Connie do? – JM Briscoe

2021 Prize Judges:

Elise Dillsworth became a literary agent in 2012. Previously she was a commissioning editor at Virago Press, an imprint of Little Brown Book Group. She co-founded the Diversity in Publishing Network in 2004, which received the New Venture Award from Women in Publishing in 2005.

Elise has co-facilitated workshops for the AKO Caine Prize. She’s been a judge for several prizes including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, OCM Bocas Fiction Prize, SI Leeds Prize, the Northern Writers’ Awards and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.

Elise Dillsworth, 2021 Short Story Prize Judge

Wendy Erskine lives in Belfast. Her debut collection of short stories, Sweet Home, was published by The Stinging Fly Press and Picador. Her second Collection, Dance Move was published in 2021 and was recently featured on Radio 4. Her writing has also appeared in issues of The Stinging Fly, in Stinging Fly Stories (2018), Winter Papers 4 (2018) and Female Lines (New Island Books, 2017).

Wendy Erskine, 2021 Short Story Prize Judge

Kishani Widyaratna is an editorial director at 4^th Estate Books where she publishes literary fiction and non-fiction. She is passionate about nurturing bold new writing talent and is a longstanding contributing editor for The White Review. She has worked with writers including Raven Leilani, Sarah Moss, Mieko Kawakami and Julia Armfield.