Shortlist announced for BBC National Short Story Award 2023

The 2023 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (BBC NSSA) shortlist was announced on Thursday 7 September 2023, on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row. The shortlist features writers from across the globe making a home and name for themselves in the UK, with three out of the five currently living in Scotland.
The five-strong shortlist includes two of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists – from 2013, Women’s Prize for Fiction winner, Pakistini-British novelist Kamila Shamsie and from 2023’s list, writer K Patrick. Australian novelist and short story writer Cherise Saywell and South African poetry press publisher Nick Mulgrew are honoured, alongside bestselling author Naomi Wood for a story from her debut story collection. Their shortlisted stories explore current anxieties, from the immigrant experience and the politics of where we call home, to the pressing impact of climate change, to the way we teach boys to be in the world, to how our intimate relationships are shaped by society, and the perils of social media and privacy invasion.

Read all the stories UNABRIDGED in Comma's anthology here.