The BBC National Short Story Award 2020 by Sarah Hall


The BBC National Short Story Award 2020
Title : The BBC National Short Story Award 2020
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : -
Language : English
Format Type : Kindle Edition
Number of Pages : 86
Publication : Published September 10, 2020

A young woman’s birthday party is disturbed by the vision of a homeless man sleeping under an arrangement of mocking fruit... A late-night text conversation goes awry when a forwarded link to a live feed of gathering walruses doesn’t have its intended effect... A woman hopes a pending announcement to her in-laws will finally give her husband the attention he craves... The stories shortlisted for the 2020 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University demonstrate how a single moment might become momentous; how a small encounter or exchange can irreversibly change the way others see you, or the way you see yourself. From the struggles of two women trapped by joblessness and addiction to the hopes of two teenage brothers embarking on a new life without the protection of their parents, these stories show us what happens when we fail to relate to each other as well as the refuge that belonging affords.

The BBC National Short Story Award 2020 Reviews

  • Alan

    All good, although I'm not that keen on Eley Williams' stuff (I can see why people like her, just not my thing), and Caleb Azumah Nelson's story was promising rather than great. I'd be hard pushed to decide between the other three (Sarah Hall, Jan Carson and Jack Houston).
    Update: Sarah Hall won, and hers was probably the most accomplished story, but I probably would have gone for Jan Carson (today anyway).

  • Turkey Hash

    Loved Jack Houston and Jan Carson’s shorts. Never heard of one of them and didn’t expect to like the other but am keen to read her novel now. This is what a prize should do!

  • Ross Jeffery

    Really enjoyed this collection and some stunning stories from Sarah Hall, Eley Williams and Jan Carson - the others in the collection also good reading too..

    Full review coming soon to STORGY.com and my YouTube channel!

  • Artur Nowrot

    A very strong selection of finalists for this year's National Short Story Award. Great use of form, some fantastic language, hard-hitting emotions.

    I was familiar with some of the authors, but I will be looking up at least one other – and going back to anthologies from previous years.

    Recommended for all enthusiasts of the form.

  • Brin Miller

    Pray was an absolute highlight. Scrimshaw was a second. The rest was hard to understand from my perspective but conveyed their points with conviction and success. I definitely think they will need a second read to fully feel what they meant to. But as short stories… they aren’t for me. I just need attachement and familiarity with the narrative hence why I got confused when starting a new story from reading continuously. But they won awards and were truly good stories. Just not the format for me :)

  • Amandine

    Fave stories were the first, second and last.
    Pray - Caleb Azumah Nelson
    In the Car with the Rain Coming Down - Jan Carson
    Scrimshaw - Eley Williams

  • Glitter Knickers

    Sarah Hall runs away with the talent here.
    The other four stories seem somewhat pedestrian by comparison.

  • Tracey Thompson

    Pray, by Caleb Azumah Nelson - An enjoyable enough story. Not of the calibre I've come to expect from shortlisted stories.
    In The Car With the Rain Coming Down, by Jan Carson - My winner of 2020. A very relatable story of family in-fighting, pride, and secrets.
    The Grotesques, by Sarah Hall - Sarah Hall is the absolute master, isn't she? A close second place. This was very disorientating, in a good way. I love it when things are hinted at, but never explicitly stated. Sarah Hall has perfected this.
    Come Down Heavy, by Jack Houston - The audio version of this story was easier to digest, as it's written in an "experimental" way (run on sentences, stream-of-consciousness). The story itself is very moving, and the ending was really brutal. The author has clearly read Hubert Selby Jr.
    Scrimshaw, by Eley Williams - This just did not interest me at all. Didn't care for the characters, nor their dull situation.

    Now, I have a couple of theories at to what has happened here. My expectations of quality in a short story are higher than that of other people, or this year's contest has a particularly weak shortlist. I digress. This award is one of the highlights of my literary years, and I feel a bit let down.

  • Katy Wilson

    My favourite was Pray by Nelson, then The Grotesques by Hall. Overall I wasn’t blown away by any of these but still a fairly solid group of short stories.
    Has made me want to pick up Open Water which has been talked about a lot in people’s top reads of 2021 as well so that’s something to look forward to.

  • Jessica | Stuck In The Book

    Fantastic collection and worthy winner.