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Watch some animated trailers for the BBC National Short Story Award 2009 shortlist
Posted Monday November 30th 2009
by Nikesh ShuklaAs you know, we have now announced the shortlist for the BBC National Short Story Award 2009
The shortlist was announced on BBC Radio 4's Front Row programme on Friday 27 November and to coincide with the announcement, we collaborated with Radio 4 to create some video trails for each story, read on Radio 4 every day this week between 3.30pm and 4.00pm.
You can find the video trails here alongside a blog from judge Di Speirs about the stories.
You can also download each short story as a podcast as soon as it has been broadcast from the Radio 4 site.
Monday's story was 'Other People's Gods' by Naomi Alderman.
Naomi Alderman's first novel, Disobedience was released in 2006 and won the Orange Award for New Writers. It was broadcast as a Book at Bedtime on BBC Radio 4.
In 2007 Naomi was named Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, and one of Waterstones' 25 Writers for the Future. Naomi also writes online computer games, including writing for Penguin's award-winning We Tell Stories project. She has written commissioned short stories for BBC Radio 4. Penguin will publish her new novel, The Lessons, in… -
An interview with Richard Herring
Posted Monday November 23rd 2009
by Nikesh ShuklaComedian Richard Herring, famed for... how long have you got? (Fist of Fun, This Morning with Richard Not Judy, Talking Cock, Hitler Moustache), is a funny man, referred to by many as the 'comedian's comedian.' Keeper of a hilarious daily diary of funny incidents (Warming Up), curator of the finest free podcasts iTunes has to offer (sketch-based As It Occurs to Me and talk-based Collings and Herrin) and writer of some of the finest stand-up in the country, he has written a new book, out next year called How Not to Grow Up mostly about turning forty and wondering whether it's time to grow up.
Having just announced our top ten funny books and announced the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, we thought it'd be apt to talk to a well-respected comedian such as Richard about writing his new book and the funniest things he's read.
>You have just finished writing a new memoir for next year, How Not to Grow Up. Tell us about it.
I’ve been writing a blog for 7 years and I was looking to do something with that and about turning forty and about giving up drinking and Ebury suggested…
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Why I love… Margaret Atwood
Posted Monday November 23rd 2009
by Anna McKerrowAnna thinks of love and curls her thoughts around it, trying to mesh her bluish logical mind into her pinkly emotional one without too much suturing or rainbow striping. She wonders idly, do I really love Atwood that much? Why? Is it her style, with its frequent use of reported speech, interior monologue, single person narration and word play? She wonders, how would Margaret explain her own phenomenon? She has no answer to that. She wonders. She wanders. She knows she has witnessed wonders.
Is it the deft examination of character psyche in Margaret Atwood’s many novels and short story collections that leave me breathless and, like the Victorian Constant Reader, always wanting more? Is it her humour? Her examination of the dark, spiked motivations that nestle in the backs of all our brains? Her depictions of nature, growing up, girlhood and womanhood, or cautionary tales for the future? There’s too much to like, but too much, as they say, is never enough.
My first Atwood book was, perhaps like many readers, The Handmaid’s Tale, which I studied at A Level. I remember liking it, but perhaps because of having to study it, I didn’t leech right on to the…
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It's never too late...
Posted Friday November 20th 2009
by Mary BrownWe’re excited to be able to announce a new project aimed at people over 60 that encourages reading and writing for pleasure. The Bookbite website is launching in February next year and will be accompanied by a supporting booklet featuring short stories, poetry, creative writing hints and tips, features on tracing your ancestry, writing memoirs and letters.
Run in partnership with WRVS and UK online centres we are confident that Bookbite will engage a new audience of web users to get online and try something new. With the underlying themes of reading and writing this informal learning site will provide access to writing tools and templates, and book lists of recommended titles, including those available in large print or audio formats.
We hope to inspire the many thousands of older people across England to take up reading and creative writing. Whether that’s to participate in reading a bedtime story to grandchildren, to write a novel, set up a blog, or create a personal memoir for future generations- to read is part of the pleasure.
Everyone has a story to tell. What’s yours?
For those of you who have a story to tell and can’t wait until next year, the BBC…
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Chris Higgins’ A Perfect Ten scoops YoungMinds Book Award
Posted Monday November 16th 2009
by Elaine BielbyChris Higgins' A Perfect Ten was crowned winner of the YoungMinds Book Award 2009 at the Unicorn Theatre in London on Wednesday 11 November.
The £2000 prize sponsored by Booktrust was presented by Observer columnist and BBC Radio 4 broadcaster, Mariella Frostrup and awarded to the book which most helps young people aged 12+ cope with the stresses and challenges of growing up.
A Perfect Ten tells the tale of Eva, a popular and successful gymnast who a faces a series of crisis when a new girl joins her class. With her life quickly unraveling Eva clings to the one thing she can control, her weight. But no matter how strong her willpower is, the dark secret that Eva has worked so hard to conceal seems determined to reveal itself.
Chris Higgins said: 'I was absolutely thrilled to win the YoungMinds Book Award for A Perfect Ten. I set out to explore the issue of bullying from the perspective of the bully. Following her sister's death, Eva has to deal with survivor's guilt, anorexia and a grieving mother. I hope that A Perfect Ten will provide insight and understanding into both bullies and their victims, and show that these two…
