Huzzah! A little gift from the writing gods on this gorgeously sunny, first day of June. I’ve been shortlisted for The Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize. There were over two thousand entries.

The themes for this year’s short stories and poems are forgiveness and retribution, which feel stark, relevant and more complex than ever.

The judges are poet and novelist John Burnside, poet Gillian Clarke, and children’s author Katherine Rundell.

I am thrilled, honoured and generally cock-a-hoop to have been shortlisted for the Society of Authors’ ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award! The news has been a gorgeous burst of sunshine in these strange days.

The Tom Gallon Award celebrates single short stories and runs alongside other prizes such as the Betty Trask Prize for novels and the Eric Gregory Award for poetry. This year’s judges are the brilliant Michèle Roberts and Stuart Evers.

My story, ‘High Water’, is keeping company with some great talent in this year’s shortlist: Lynda Clark, Ani Kayode Somtochukwu, Diana Powell, Wendy Riley and Catriona Ward. Previous winners and runners-up include two of my most loved short-story writers: Carys Davies and Lucy Wood.

Sadly, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no awards ceremony in London this year, but there will be an online bash on the 18th June. Looking forward to it. In the meantime, I’m just hanging out with that sunshine…

The short version:

I am thrilled to announce that I have won The Bridge Awards Short Story Mentoring Award.  I will be working with the short-story writer and novelist Cherise Saywell on a short-story collection.

The more leisurely version:

Short stories are my first love. When I first went to an evening writing class—led by the wonderful Helen Lamb, a master of the short story—I wrote short stories. My first ever thrill of publication was for my story, ‘In the Museum’. When I received the news, I did a lumbering bear dance around the bedroom.

I’ve written many stories since and I’ve also worked on two novels. I relish the world-building of novels, and I especially love living through so many experiences with my novel characters. I know and understand my novel characters better than I know and understand many people.  Often, however, I feel more comfortable, and more excited, when writing short stories. And it’s not about the shorter time required to write: I don’t think short stories necessarily are quicker to write. I’ve taken years whittling away at some of my stories. It’s the intensity of the short story that I love, as both reader and writer. The closing-in on a moment that matters. Recently, I received the most astute and helpful feedback on a short story: ‘keep your character in the room’.  Don’t let her slip out that door, literal and metaphorical, until she’s confronted the truth. This , for me, sums up the delight and challenge of the short story form. As William Trevor said, ‘it should be an explosion of truth’.

I was delighted, then, when I first heard of a new opportunity offered by The Bridge Awards: a Short Story Mentoring Award, working with Cherise Saywell. It would be such a good thing to have a mentoring scheme specifically for short-story writers—who so need, and appreciate, nurture in a publishing culture that still favours novels.

So, to discover I have won this award is thrilling! Cue another lumbering bear dance. I’m already looking forward to working with Cherise on my short stories. Feedback from a writer like her is manna.  With this support, I hope to shape and gather them into a collection. Thank you, Bridge Awards.

Long live the short story!