Kit de Waal for The Old Man and The Suit:
Kit de Waal worked in criminal and family law for fifteen years and now writes flash fiction, short stories and longer form prose. She is published in various anthologies – Fish Prize 2011 & 2012; The Sea in Birmingham 2013; Final Chapters 2013 – and works as an editor of non-fiction. She is represented by Jenny Hewson of Rogers, Coleridge & White and is currently working on a novel, The Scarlet Emperor.
The story that received the most public votes will be announced as winner and receive £3,500 at next week’s Costa Book Awards ceremony, with second place receiving £1,500 and third place £500.
The inaugural winner of the Costa Short Story Award in 2012 was former prison manager now full-time writer, Avril Joy, from Witton-le-Wear in Bishop Auckland whose winning story, Millie and Bird, was included in an anthology of short stories compiled by Victoria Hislop called The Story: Love Loss and the Lives of Women – 100 Great Short Stories (published by Head of Zeus).
The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. Formerly known as the Whitbread Book Awards, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK’s prestigious and popular book prize in 2006.
