Short Story Competition Short List Announced

The five writers short listed for this year’s Edge Hill University Short Story Competition are to be announced at The Bluecoat at 2.30pm on Saturday 10 May. The event is not only part of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations, but also marks the National Year of Reading.

Author Helen Simpson, one of the UK’s finest contemporary short story writers and receiver of the E. M. Forster Award in 2002 by the American Academy of Arts & Letters, will announce the shortlist and read a selection of her own work.

Alisa Cox said; "The Edge Hill Short Story Competition is unique as all of the collections had to be written by one person and submitted by their publishers. This is the second year that the competition has run, and the calibre of entrants was phenomenal. The judges had a real mixed bag of collections to choose from. I don’t envy their job."

The judges for this year’s competition are BBC radio producer Duncan Minshull, Prof. Rhiannon Evans from Edge Hill University and the short-story novelist Hilary Mantel.

The prize winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony at the Bluecoat on Thursday July 3.

The first prize winner will receive £5000, together with a stunning glass work made by award winning artist Amanda Notarianni. The second prize winner and the readers’ prize winner will receive £1000.

The shortlist announcement will take place in the Performance Space at The Bluecoat Centre. Tickets are £5.00 / £3.00 concessions and can be purchased from the Bluecoat Box-Office on 0151 702 5324. Payment can be taken on the door, but it is advisable to make advance bookings.