BATH SHORT STORY AWARDS

I’m very pleased to say that the story I submitted for this year’s Bath Short Story Awards, ‘Gone Fishing’, was shortlisted from over 900 stories, and picked out as a ‘highly commended’ entry. The story will be appearing with the other shortlisted entries in their annual anthology later this year.

Here’s what the judges had to say about it:

‘Gone Fishing’ is a tight depiction of burgeoning masculinity and unspoken grief. Whilst the central metaphor – the fish as the boy’s father – isn’t subtle, this is a fantastic lesson in how to ‘show not tell’, and the restrained prose signals to wonderfully rich subtext. The dialogue, in particular, resonates with language around dying – ‘we’re losing him’ and ‘does it hurt?’ have emotional connotations. This story is quietly beautiful.

You can see the full list of winners here.