After weeks and months of reading and deliberating and discussing, we are thrilled to be introducing the 40 writers and stories selected for the 2021 Bristol Short Story Prize longlist.
All judging decisions have been made and these captivating, thought-provoking, moving stories are in the running for this year’s first prize. A huge thank you to all the writers from across the world who sent in their stories during these turbulent and uncertain times. It has been such a joy to read and experience the 2, 545 entries we received.
A major thank you, also, to our readers and judges who have shown enormous commitment and care when making their selections.
Many congratulations to the 40 writers whose stories have been selected. Your writing has enlivened and animated this year for us and we are extremely grateful to have the opportunity to celebrate it.
2021 Bristol Short Story Prize Longlist (listed A-Z by writer):
Gayathiri Dhevi Appathurai – Donut, Paper Napkins and Hope
Vanwy Arif – Migration
Abigail Chandler – The Retreat
Isidora Cortes-Monroy – Cake for the Disappeared
Nina Cullinane – Miss A Up the Hill
Shona Deitch – The Offering
Kevin Donnellan – The Hermit
Louise Farr – Rat 61
Louise Finnigan – Speck
D Frankel – Sink Rate
Gonzalo C Garcia – Unlikely Goals Worth Pursuing
Susanna Gould – A Mouthful of Nymphs
Chris Hancock – The Executioner
S.P. Hannaway – Love, Hunger
Emily Howes – Lane 15
Michelle Chuqi Huang – This Spring Never Happened
Frances Hurd – Jackie and Pad
Cory Ingram – Somewhere Up Near Ghost River
Christopher M James – The Villagers Who Don’t Sleep
Kate Lockwood Jefford – Because we are Weak
Elinor Johns – Saturdays are Perfectly Fine
Jessica Kashdan-Brown – City in the Snow
Vijay Khurana – Follower
Fhionna McGeechan – Opam and Tazz
Blaine Newton – Life in a Bottle
Amanda Ong – Sifters
Ajay Patri – A Need for Shelter
Hannah Persaud – Tributaries
Anna Polonyi – Last Rabbit of Laysan
Farha Tahera Quadri – Home is the Next Place
John Saul – The First Time I Saw Brentford
Annie Syed – This Is How You Lie
Sharma Taylor – Journal Entries of the Doubting Prophet
Rhys Timson – Angerland
Sarah Tinsley – I Don’t Know What I’ve Lost
Danielle Vrublevskis – The Carnivore Club
Amelia Walker – The Joke Factory
Guy Ware – The Good Neighbour [REDACTED]
Anna Whyatt – On Drowning
David Winstone – The Parasol
Notable Contenders (these stories were in the running for the longlist until the final decisions were made):
Fabienne Bego – Circus Horses
Dayne Bond – To Be Human
Arokoruba Cheetham-West – That in Which We Trust
Jane Dugdale – The Heap
Annie Hayter – The Looks
Caleb Jehl – The Natural
Hans Loe – A Hymn to Your Grace
Luke MacPherson – State of Reunion
Sonya Moor – (title removed at the author’s request)
Cassandra Passarelli – The Great Hush
Brian Quinn – High Kicks and Parking Tix
Jonathan Saint – Message in a Bottle
Stewart Tiley – Heysham Notebook 5
We will be announcing this year’s shortlist at 2pm (BST) on July 28th 2021. The 20 stories on the shortlist will be published in our 14th anthology by Tangent Books and launched on October 9th 2021. The winner of this year’s Bristol Short Story Prize, the two runners up, plus the Sansom Award for Bristol-based writers will all be announced on October 9th.