Tuesday, April 04, 2006

The UK National Short Story Prize -- update

Last September, when the UK National Short Story Prize was announced, I greeted it with something less than three cheers. In a lengthy piece I set out my reasons for feeling uncomfortable about it.

Well, now we've got to the shortlist stage. There were 1,400 entries, which the organisers seem to think is a large number. More than expected. But, just to remind you, this was not an 'open' competition. Entries were limited to writers who had previously been published, with self-publishers rigidly excluded.

The Guardian has details (link from booktrade.info.)

2 comments:

Elspeth said...

It always amazes me that they are surprised to have so many entries.

Anonymous said...

And I'm not surprised that they have so few. As far as the exclusionary aspect, there are a great many winks and nods that go into these 'awahds.' Bless their hearts.