This week is National Short Story Week, an annual awareness event to focus attention on the short story and short story writers, publishers and events.
The Write Lines
One of the UK's most experienced and well known broadcasters, Sue Cook, brings her radio programme The Write Lines online for some exclusive shows to tie-in with this year's National Short Story Week.
Listen to Sue interview a host of writers about the short story form, their favourite short stories and their own short story collections. These three online programmes are also available from www.thewritelines.co.uk and www.nationalshortstoryweek.org.uk.
Listen now
National Short Story Week Young Writers Competition
To celebrate NSSW 2011, and to further the aim of getting younger people into writing, reading and listening to short stories, we will be running a short story competition for year 7 and 8 students.
NSSW invites entrants to write a short story of 1,000 words with the title "The Choice". There is no
charge for entry to the competition. The competition was launched to school librarians at the School Library Association meeting on 7 April.
Entries will be accepted by email from the first day of National Short Story Week - Monday 7 November 2011. The deadline is Monday 9 January 2012. Two winners will be chosen - one boy and one girl - and the result will be announced in the spring of 2012.
The shortlist judges are Chris Priestley (Tales of Terror, Bloomsbury) and Aidan Chambers (The
Kissing Game, Random House).
The two winning stories will be recorded by professional actors and broadcast online and by
podcast on www.shortstoryradio.com and www.nationalshortstoryweek.org.uk, free of charge.
Further prizes will be announced in late September. The winners and runners up will have their stories published in an ebook, which will be available from the NSSW website, free of charge.
Women Aloud: a charity anthology audiobook for National Short Story Week 2011
Women Aloud is an audio anthology of short stories written by eleven of the UK's best loved women's fiction writers. There's something for everyone in this unique audiobook - love, laughter, thrills and chills. It will make a great gift for a friend, mum, sister, grandmother, aunt, girlfriend, wife, partner or...yourself!
Listen to stories by Trisha Ashley, Judy Astley, Elizabeth Chadwick, Rowan Coleman, Katie Fforde, Milly Johnson, Catherine King, Sophie King, Carole Matthews, Sue Moorcroft and Allie Spencer.
The stories are narrated by a host of talented actors including current cast members from The Archers and Horrible Histories and former stars of Neighbours and Doctors.
Women Aloud will be available as a CD or download from the NSSW website.
Everyone involved in the production of Women Aloud has donated their time and talents to support
this project. Women Aloud is directed and produced by National Short Story Week Director Ian Skillicorn.
All of the proceeds from Women Aloud will go to the Helena Kennedy Foundation, to support them
in the great work that they do. The Foundation provides financial bursaries, mentoring and support
to disadvantaged students from the further and adult education sectors, enabling them to complete
their studies in higher education and move on successfully into employment.
National Short Story Week for Libraries
Hundreds of public and school libraries around the UK have already pledged to celebrate this year's National Short Story Week. During National Short Story Week many libraries will:
- have a short story display
- invite a local short story writer to give a talk or writing workshop
- invite a local short story writer to give a reading
- encourage students to enter the Young Writer competition (Year 7 and 8 students
The idea for National Short Story Week came from audio producer Ian Skillicorn. As the founder of www.shortstoryradio.com, Ian has been producing and broadcasting short stories, and supporting the work of both new and established short story writers, for many years. As director, Ian is responsible for making sure people know about and take part in National Short Story Week.
The aims of NSSW are supported by an independent steering group made up of experts in the fields of writing, editing, publishing, teaching, producing, broadcasting and performing. The patron of National Short Story Week is best-selling writer Katie Fforde.
National Short Story Week: beginnings
The first NSSW was launched at the Charles Dickens Museum in London on Saturday 25 September 2010. Around seventy guests met to talk about plans for the week, including representatives from the Booksellers' Association, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), Granta magazine, National Academy of Writing, National Association for Literature Development, Romantic Novelists' Association, University of the Third Age (U3A) and numerous publishers.
NSSW took place between 22-29 November 2010. During the week over 60 events were held around the UK; in bookshops, libraries, schools, colleges, universities, pubs and online.