The prestigious Edge Hill Prize is now in its 16th year and is the only national literary award to recognise excellence in a published, single-authored short story collection.
This year’s shortlist includes two previously shortlisted writers and two debut collections, with the winner set to scoop a £10,000 prize.
The five shortlisted books are:
- Man Hating Psycho by Iphgenia Baal (Influx Press)
- Intimacies by Lucy Caldwell (Faber)
- Dance Move by Wendy Erskine (Stinging Fly/Picador)
- Dark Neighbourhood by B(Fitzcarraldo Editions)
- Send Nudes by Saba Sams (Bloomsbury)
A £1,000 Readers’ Choice Award will also be presented to one of the shortlisted authors, as well as a £500 prize for the best short story submitted by an Edge Hill University MA Creative Writing student.
The winners of this year’s awards will be announced in November.
The judges of the 2022 prize are 2021 winner Kevin Barry, literary development agent Arzu Tahsin; and Sarah Schofield, Edge Hill University lecturer, whose collection Safely Gathered In is published by Comma Press.