Voting has opened for the 2014 Costa Short Story Award, a new Award launched in 2012 for a single short story, run in association with the Costa Book Awards but judged independently of the main five-category system.
The general public is now invited to vote for its favourite from the shortlist of six stories which can be downloaded either to read or listen to from www.costa.co.uk/costa-book-awards/costa-short-story-award.
Over 1000 entries were received to the competition which is now in its third year. Open to both published and unpublished writers, the Award is for a single, previously unpublished short story of up to 4,000 words, written in English by an author aged 18 years or over.
All entries were judged anonymously (ie without the identity of the author being available to the judges) by a panel comprising writers Patrick Gale and Victoria Hislop; Richard Beard, Director of the National Academy of Writing; Fanny Blake, novelist, journalist and Books Editor of Woman & Home magazine; and Simon Trewin, agent at William Morris Endeavor.
The judges have selected the following six stories which are now available to read and listen to at www.costa.co.uk/costa-book-awards/costa-short-story-award. They are:
Fishskin, Hareskin: Ervet tries to escape her new life as a fishwife by returning to her past and its lost comforts.
Jellyfish: A woman returns with her children to the coast she once called home. A story of silent understanding and enduring love.
Rosa and Thirkel: A tale of a young girl, her father, and a missing dog.
The Glassblower’s Daughter: In a 17th century harbour town, a girl lives out her dreams of the sea through the sailors she encounters.
The Liontamer’s Husband: The liontamer’s husband goes to the circus to confront the lions – but is it woman or beast he is jealous of?
The Matchboy: In County Tyrone an only child negotiates the codes and hazards of his family life.
The identities of the authors will be revealed after public voting closes on 16th January and the winning author and two runners-up will be announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony on Tuesday 27th January 2015, when the winner will receive a cheque for £3,500 and the authors in second and third place will receive £1,000 and £500 respectively.
“Once again, I’ve been overwhelmed by the scale of writing talent this competition attracts,” commented Jason Cotta, Managing Director, Costa UK Retail. “The 2014 winner is now in the public’s hands and I would urge everyone to read – or listen to – all of these excellent stories and cast their vote!!”
The Costa Book Awards is the only major UK book prize that is open solely to authors resident in the UK and Ireland and also, uniquely, recognises the most enjoyable books across five categories – First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book – published in the last year. Originally established by Whitbread PLC in 1971, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK’s prestigious and popular book prize in 2006.
