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The BBC National Short Story Award 2014
Edited by Ra Page
Categories: 21st Century, American, Anthologies, BAME, British, Welsh, Women
Imprint: Comma Press
Publisher: Comma Press
Available as:
Imprint: Comma Press
Publisher: Comma Press
Available as:
- Description
- Editor
- Awards
- Reviews
Featuring
Zadie Smith, Francesca Rhydderch, Tessa Hadley, Rose Tremain & Lionel Shriver
Short story writers often say that, for maximum dramatic effect, you should arrive fashionably late to a scene. After years of living in the literary wilderness, it seems the short story’s own moment has finally arrived. The last twelve months have marked an extraordinary year for the form. The Nobel Prize for Literature, the Man Booker International Prize, the Folio Prize and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize were all awarded to short story writers.
The shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award 2014 captures the spirit of this mood and the short story’s knack for cutting straight to the action, the all-important moment of change. The five stories on this year’s shortlist were chosen by a panel of judges that included: poet and novelist Adam Foulds; author, illustrator and performer Laura Dockrill; editor Philip Gwyn Jones; BBC Editor of Books Di Speirs; and the broadcaster Alan Yentob,who chaired the panel and introduces this collection.
Zadie Smith, Francesca Rhydderch, Tessa Hadley, Rose Tremain & Lionel Shriver
Short story writers often say that, for maximum dramatic effect, you should arrive fashionably late to a scene. After years of living in the literary wilderness, it seems the short story’s own moment has finally arrived. The last twelve months have marked an extraordinary year for the form. The Nobel Prize for Literature, the Man Booker International Prize, the Folio Prize and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize were all awarded to short story writers.
The shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award 2014 captures the spirit of this mood and the short story’s knack for cutting straight to the action, the all-important moment of change. The five stories on this year’s shortlist were chosen by a panel of judges that included: poet and novelist Adam Foulds; author, illustrator and performer Laura Dockrill; editor Philip Gwyn Jones; BBC Editor of Books Di Speirs; and the broadcaster Alan Yentob,who chaired the panel and introduces this collection.
Awards won by Ra Page
Winner, 2012 Financial Times Book of the Year
(Shi Cheng)
(Shi Cheng)
Praise for Ra Page
'Read this book.'
Liz Lochhead 'An agreeably accomplished collection populated, as promised, by some intriguing characters.'
City Life 'Get with the zeitgeist and buy yourself a copy of Bracket.'
Leeds Guide 'Fills you with hope for the form.'
Time Out 'Short fiction is in good hands.'
The Independent 'If we need the uncanny --and I suspect we do -- then we also need it updating... laudable.'
Book of the Week, The Independent 'A masterclass in understated creepiness... a deliciously macabre collection that the old Austrian might well have enjoyed.'
Book of the Week, Time Out 'Delightful and disturbing.'
The Independent on Sunday 'It's not too great a stretch to see Comma as the literary equivalent of Factory Records.'
The Herald 'An inspiring tribute to inquiring minds.'
The Guardian 'A very alive, illuminating and good-natured collection.'
The Observer 'The pairings work brilliantly, giving stereoscopic vision... ingenious... unfailingly interesting.'
The Independent 'Exquisite... delectable.'
New Scientist 'There is something about the defiance of language in this story.'
China Daily 'On balance, [the editors] perform a valuable service in making these rich, varied and rewarding stories known to a western audience, for all that the politics of cultural engagement remain fraught.'
Financial Times
'These stories tell us how the lives of these cities and citizens, or peasants-turned-citizens, are being tempered. The stories seem to say that one has to go through the fires of hell to reach some different stage of existence.'
The Independent 'Shi Cheng is a sort of mind map of both modern China, and also of what itâs like to be human.'
Asian Books Blog
'An exhilarating read.'
The Short Review 'Fascinating reading.'
Financial Times 'It might have been of interest to these pre-Mansfield masters to learn that there was a hidden country of prose out there; great short story writers, then and now, create countries of their own.'
Michael Caines writing about Morphologies in the TLS blog 'A worthy addition to the immense collection of criticism.'
The Guardian 'Works brilliantly... ingenious... unfailingly interesting.'
The Independent, Book of the Week
'Exquisite... delectable'
New Scientist.
Liz Lochhead 'An agreeably accomplished collection populated, as promised, by some intriguing characters.'
City Life 'Get with the zeitgeist and buy yourself a copy of Bracket.'
Leeds Guide 'Fills you with hope for the form.'
Time Out 'Short fiction is in good hands.'
The Independent 'If we need the uncanny --and I suspect we do -- then we also need it updating... laudable.'
Book of the Week, The Independent 'A masterclass in understated creepiness... a deliciously macabre collection that the old Austrian might well have enjoyed.'
Book of the Week, Time Out 'Delightful and disturbing.'
The Independent on Sunday 'It's not too great a stretch to see Comma as the literary equivalent of Factory Records.'
The Herald 'An inspiring tribute to inquiring minds.'
The Guardian 'A very alive, illuminating and good-natured collection.'
The Observer 'The pairings work brilliantly, giving stereoscopic vision... ingenious... unfailingly interesting.'
The Independent 'Exquisite... delectable.'
New Scientist 'There is something about the defiance of language in this story.'
China Daily 'On balance, [the editors] perform a valuable service in making these rich, varied and rewarding stories known to a western audience, for all that the politics of cultural engagement remain fraught.'
Financial Times
'These stories tell us how the lives of these cities and citizens, or peasants-turned-citizens, are being tempered. The stories seem to say that one has to go through the fires of hell to reach some different stage of existence.'
The Independent 'Shi Cheng is a sort of mind map of both modern China, and also of what itâs like to be human.'
Asian Books Blog
'An exhilarating read.'
The Short Review 'Fascinating reading.'
Financial Times 'It might have been of interest to these pre-Mansfield masters to learn that there was a hidden country of prose out there; great short story writers, then and now, create countries of their own.'
Michael Caines writing about Morphologies in the TLS blog 'A worthy addition to the immense collection of criticism.'
The Guardian 'Works brilliantly... ingenious... unfailingly interesting.'
The Independent, Book of the Week
'Exquisite... delectable'
New Scientist.
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