Synopses & Reviews
Absence and disappearance provide recurring themes in these 10 stories assembled from the BBC International Short Story Award competition: the abandonment of family members, estranged wives and errant husbands, the loss of a childhood friend and computer games mentor, and the convenient vanishing of whatever we deem disposable. Written by English-speaking writers from around the world—including Australia, the Balkans, Ireland, North America, and South Africa—this compilation shows the extraordinary diversity and richness of the short story as a truly global form while also honoring the 2012 London Olympics. Contributors include the winner of the BBC International Short Story Award, Miroslav Penkov; runner-up Henrietta Rose-Innes; and Adam Ross, Carrie Tiffany, Chris Womersley, Deborah Levy, Julian Gough, Krys Lee, Lucy Caldwell, and M. J. Hyland.
Review
“When you've been reading M. J. Hyland, other writers seem to lack integrity.” —Hilary Mantel, winner of the Man Booker Prize, on M. J. Hyland.
Review
“Levys work represents an impressive stylistic achievement, tapping, I believe, at the door of that unrepressedly ‘feminine prose-style, which Virginia Woolf anticipated and coveted." —Times on Deborah Levy
About the Author
M. J. Hyland is a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Manchester and the author of several books, including Carry Me Down, How the Light Gets In, and This Is How. She is the recipient of the Encore and Hawthornden prizes, and her work is regularly featured in publications such as the Financial Times, the London Review of Books, and the Irish Independent. Deborah Levy is a novelist, a playwright, and a former fellow in creative and performing arts at the Royal College of Art. She is the author of several books, including Beautiful Mutants, Swallowing Geography, and Swimming Home. She has also written plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Adam Ross is a journalist who has contributed to several publications, including GQ, the Daily Beast, the New York Times Book Review, and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of the novel Mr. Peanut and the short story collection Ladies and Gentlemen. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Clive Anderson is a long-standing broadcaster and comedian in the UK, and the chair of the judge's panel for the BBC International Short Story Award. He is the recipient of British Comedy Awards for Top Entertainment Presenter and Top Radio Comedy Personality and the British TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award during his tenure as presenter.