| Title | : | BBC National Short Story Award 2016 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 73 |
| Publication | : | Published September 19, 2016 |
A girl on a deep, dark moor is drawn into a different kind of darkness after a stranger gives her a bunch of flowers...
A retired plastic surgeon, who once served the great and the not-so-good of Buenos Aires, finds a new peace when he disguises his identity...
An academic seeks sanctuary in a different rhythm of life... While those who wile away the nights in A&E, unlikely memories and a good sense of the absurd keep the worst at bay...
The characters assembled in this year’s shortlist are all looking for a new start, a chance to escape or change the way they are perceived. Now in its eleventh year, the BBC National Short Story Award with BookTrust continues to showcase a literary form in the very best of health. The stories this year were shortlisted by poet Kei Miller, Man Booker Award-winning novelist Pat Barker, Southbank Centre’s Literature Programmer Ted Hodgkinson, and BBC’s Books Editor Di Speirs. The judging panel was chaired by Woman’s Hour presenter Jenni Murray, who also introduces the collection.
BBC National Short Story Award 2016 Reviews
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These shortlisted stories were a mixed bag overall. The ones that I felt were strongest were:
'Garments,' by Tahmina Anam - set in a Bangladeshi garment factory the characterisation was particularly strong and also had an important feminist point to make regarding the necessity of women having to rely on men but it had a hopeful ending.
'The Darkest Place in England,' by Lavinia Greenlaw was also beautifully written with setting and characterisation particularly strong here. You really sympathized with Jamie who had felt cooped up for so long and wanted to spread her wings, though you feared for her safety also.
'Disappearances,' by KJ Orr was the winning title of the award and had a resonance running throughout of the political upheaval in Buenos Aires and how it comes to affect a wealthy plastic surgeon through a chance encounter. The surgeon was cushioned by his wealth during the years of unrest in that country but discovers that there were certainly victims who have scars. -
I had the original broadcasts downloaded from the BBC and therefore the luxury of listening to the stories as I read. My favourite story in the collection is Tahmima Aman's Garments about Bangladeshi women working in a garment factory - and their strength and dignity despite the poverty of their lives. I used it in the classroom alongside Yiyun Li's story Extra (from A Thousand Years of Good Prayers) because both stories illuminate small lives and show them in the context of the wider society and globalisation.
