Shortlist

We’re delighted to announce this year’s shortlist for the inaugural Leicester Writes Short Story Prize 2017. The shortlist was chosen from 20 long-listed stories by our esteemed judging panel, which includes writers Rebecca Burns, Divya Ghelani, Nina Stibbe, and Grace Haddon as well as bookseller, Debbie James.

Stories on this year’s shortlist include (in alphabetical order):

  1. Aunty by C. G. Menon
  2. Death and Biscuits by Bev Haddon
  3. Five by Lynne E. Blackwood
  4. Sans Lingua Franca by Thomas Welsh
  5. Suicide Vending Machine by Thomas Welsh
  6. Switching off the Metronome by Siobhan Logan
  7. The Man Who Wasn’t by Karl Quiqley
  8. We Went There by Debz Hobbs-Wyatt

On selecting the shortlist, the judges remarked on the quality of writing, the range of styles and ideas, as well as how much they each enjoyed reading the longlist. James, who owns The Kibworth Bookshop said. ‘What an absolute pleasure it has been to read these stories. I have been blown away by the quality of ideas and writing.’

The short-listed stories will now go through to the final round of judging. The winner will be announced on May 1st 2017.