The BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (BBC NSSA) shortlist was announced on, Friday 11 September 2020 during BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. Celebrating 15 years of the Award, the shortlist included established and new voices with 2013 winner of the Award Sarah Hall shortlisted for the fourth time. The judges praised the shortlist for its energy, experimentation and versatility with the stories ranging from ‘perfectly miniaturised flash-fiction’ to the ‘fully literary and layered’ via diverse and topical inspirations including Black Lives Matter, millennial relationships, addiction, loss and family politics.
Belfast author and winner of the 2019 EU Prize for Literature Jan Carson was among the short listed authors for her ‘tender, humane and sharply observed’ story ‘In The Car With the Rain Coming Down’. Inspired by her upbringing in rural, Protestant Northern Ireland, she takes both her characters and readers on a literal and emotional journey, weaving together family politics and community rivalries as a family set off on an ill-fated picnic. Tender, nuanced and funny, it will resonate with anyone who is part of an extended family.
BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University 2020 shortlist is:
- ‘Pray’ by Caleb Azumah Nelson
- ‘In The Car With the Rain Coming Down’ by Jan Carson
- ‘The Grotesques’ by Sarah Hall
- ‘Come Down Heavy’ by Jack Houston
- ‘Scrimshaw’ by Eley Williams
Read more here: www.bbc.co.uk/nssa
