A short story containing only text
messages is in the running to win the prestigious Sunday Times EFG Private Bank
Short Story Award 2012. Will Cohu’s ‘Two Bad Thumbs’ – the story of a
relationship told through the texts of two lovers – will, however, face
stiff competition from a whole host of bestselling and garlanded authors,
including Diana Athill, Lionel Shriver, Emma Donoghue and Toby Litt. The
£30,000 Award is the biggest in the world for a single short story.
The judges have narrowed their search for
an outstanding story of up to 6,000 words to a longlist of 20. The other
stories on the 2012 longlist include three addressing the topical issue of
caring for parents and an aging population, as well as stories drawing on the
historical events of 9/11, the American War of Independence, the atomic attack
on Japan in 1945, and the 1988 atrocities in Kurdistan.
The longlisted authors, 10 women and 10
men, range in age from 31 to 94 and are drawn from as far afield as Hong Kong,
Ireland, the USA, Canada and the UK. Will Cohu is longlisted for the third
consecutive year. In the two previous years he has gone on to feature in the
shortlist. Jackie Kay, A L Kennedy and Kevin Barry have also been longlisted in
previous years.
The 20 longlisted writers and the titles
of their short stories:
- Diana Athill – ‘A Hopeless Case’
- Kevin Barry – ‘Beer Trip to Llandudno’
- Evgenia Citkowitz – ‘Business Class’
- Will Cohu – ‘Two Bad Thumbs’
- Emma Donoghue – ‘The Hunt’
- Jackie Kay – ‘These Are Not My Clothes’
- A L Kennedy – ‘Late in Life’
- Jean Kwok – ‘Where the Gods Fly’
- Barrie de Lara – ‘Dinner at Benutti's’
- Tom Lee – ‘The Current’
- Toby Litt – ‘The Sandy’
- Alison MacLeod – ‘The Heart of Denis Noble’
- Martin Malone – ‘Valley of the Peacock Angel’
- Robert Minhinnick – ‘El Aziz: Some Pages From His
Notebooks’
- Linda Oatman High – ‘Nickel Mines Hardware’
- Alison Pimlott – ‘Five Year Diary’
- Tamara Pollock – ‘Elsa’
- Alex Preston – ‘The Bridge Over Shuto Expressway
No. 1’
- Lionel Shriver – ‘Prepositions’
- Johanna Skibsrud – ‘Fat Man and Little Boy’
The winner will receive £30,000, and the five shortlisted
writers will this year each receive £1000 – double the 2011 prize money –
as well as having their work published online and in an anthology published by
Waterstones. This will be available to purchase in store and through
waterstones.com from March 5.
Readers can
savour all six shortlisted stories at a series of special events at Waterstones
Piccadilly on March 27, 28 and 29, all featuring readings by a stellar line-up
of acting talent. As well as being able to hear the stories, audience members
can meet some of the shortlisted authors, talk to judges about their choices, and
pick up a copy of the anthology. These
events are being produced in conjunction with WordTheatre.
No comments:
Post a Comment