Books / Angela Readman
Bristol Prize authors on Costa shortlist
Local author Nathan Filer’s 2013 Costa Book of the Year Award seems to have brought about a critical mass in Bristol literary circles. Just around the corner, a whole host of authors affiliated to Bristol are being nominated, winning awards and publishing their own novels.
The Costa Short Story Award (CSSA) began in 2012, and in its first two years was won by Bristol Short Story Prize (BSSP) winners Angela Readman and Avril Joy respectively.
Elsewhere, 2011 BSSP winner Emily Bullock has just published her debut novel The Longest Fight, while Readman’s collection of short stories goes to print soon.
is needed now More than ever
This year again, two of the six CSSA-shortlisted nominees, Mark Newman and Jane Healy, had previously featured on the BSSP nominee list. BSSP organiser Joe Melia explains the prize’s success thus: “I think that our readers (all Bristol-based) and judges (mostly Bristol-
based) are excellent at spotting talented writers, and we’re lucky to have them – and to have published stories by these great writers.”
CSSA 2015 nominee Mark Newman says of his experience, “The Bristol Prize is a prestigious prize and to get onto the longlist was a huge honour. I spent a lot of time dreaming of being a writer without doing the actual writing. There’s no substitute for putting words down, one after the other. The more you write, the better you become. It happens without you noticing.”
Pictured here are the winners of the 2014 Bristol Short Story Prize.
Other stories you might like: The winner of the 2014 Bristol Short Story Prize
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