This Train is For by Bernie McGill, published by No Alibis Press, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Edge Hill Prize, awarded annually by Edge Hill University for excellence in a published single authored short story collection. This is the second time that Bernie’s work has been shortlisted: her first collection Sleepwalkers was shortlisted in 2014.

This year the judges for the prize are Lucy Luck (Agent with CWA), last year’s winner Saba Sams, and Edge Hill University lecturer and short story writer Andrea Ashworth. They will decide the winner between these wonderful shortlisted collections. Follow the links for interviews with the authors:

• Total by Rebecca Miller (Canongate)
• Love in the Time of Chaos by Rosemary Jenkinson (Arlen House)
• Cat Brushing & Other Stories by Jane Campbell (Riverrun)
• Animals at Night by Naomi Booth (Dead Ink Books)
• This Train is for… by Bernie McGill (No Alibis Press)

The literary world, particularly fiction, has long been dominated by the novel. To recognise the acceleration of what was once an overlooked art form, Professor Ailsa Cox (the world’s only Professor of Short Fiction) founded the Edge Hill Short Story Prize in 2006, highlighting the intricate craftsmanship of short story writing. The Prize remains unique as the only annually presented award that recognises excellence in a published, single-authored collection of short stories in the UK and Ireland.

Now in its 17^th Year, the prize money currently stands at £10,000 and is judged by a selected panel of literary experts. An additional prize of £1,000 is awarded for the ‘Reader’s Choice’, traditionally judged by Edge Hill University BA (Hons) Creative Writing students. An additional category worth £500 acknowledges rising talents on the University’s MA Creative Writing course.

Previous years’ winners have been Colm Tóibín, Claire Keegan, Chris Beckett, Jeremy Dyson, Graham Mort, Sarah Hall, John Burnside, Kirsty Gunn, Jessie Greengrass, Daisy Johnson, Tessa Hadley, David Szalay, Shelley Day, Kevin Barry and last year’s winner Saba Sams.

The winner will be announced at an event in the London Review Bookshop on 19th January 2024, 6.3opm – 8.30pm. Spaces are limited but if you’d like to come and hear the writers read from their shortlisted collections please RSVP asap to Lyndsey Skeaping: 25201158@edgehill.ac.uk.