Teacher-poet wins BBC short story award
Tuesday 08 December 2009
Related articles
Poet and teacher Kate Clanchy today beat established names such as Orange Prize winners Lionel Shriver and Naomi Alderman to land the BBC's National Short Story Award.
Clanchy picked up the £15,000 prize with only her second attempt at short story-writing.
The award - now in its fifth year - is run by the reading charity Booktrust and Radio 4 with the winner announced on the station's Front Row tonight.
Clanchy, who has worked as a teacher and as Poet in Residence for the Red Cross, has published a number of volumes of her poetry. She also won acclaim for her most recent book Antigona And Me about her friendship with her cleaner, who fled Kosovo during the 1999 war.
The winning tale, entitled The Not-Dead And The Saved, examines parental love and sacrifice in a story set in a hospital ward. It was read by Penelope Wilton for a Radio 4 podcast.
More than 600 entries were submitted for the prize, which in previous years has included shortlisted works by Hanif Kureishi and Rose Tremain.
Singer Will Young, author Dame Margaret Drabble and Orange Prize winner Helen Dunmore were among the judges.
Chairman of the judges Tom Sutcliffe said: "Kate Clanchy's story was the unanimous choice of the judging panel - an account of a deeply painful experience that we felt had become richer on every re-reading.
"We were all impressed by its acute control of emotional tone and by the vividness and generosity of the writing."
Arts & Ents blogs
Children’s Books: Recommended read – ‘A Monster Calls’ by Patrick Ness
Thirteen-year-old Conor awakes in bed one night to discover that the yew tree outside his house has ...
Made in Chelsea – Series 5, Episode 11: Louise plays and wins at Spencer’s game
It’s hard not to feel sorry for doe-eyed Andy. He spends months pining after Louise, has huge nostr...
The Returned: ‘Simon’ – Series 1, episode 2
Fragility of life looms large over an episode that closes with the scarring on Julie's stomach. Whil...
-
Kan you believe it? Kim Kardashian and Kanye West reportedly name baby daughter 'Kaidance Donda'
-
Film review: World War Z - Brad Pitt's zombie action flick is surprisingly infectious
-
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan - but his Irish accent isn't quite there
-
Anger Management? Charlie Sheen fires Selma Blair as his onscreen therapist with expletive-filled text
-
Vice pulls 'breathtakingly tasteless' fashion shoot glorifying the suicides of famous female authors from Sylvia Plath to Virginia Woolf
- 1 Serena Williams apologises after comment that rape victim 'shouldn't have put herself in that position'
- 2 Disability campaigners celebrate 'victory' after government rethink over plans to make it more difficult to claim disability benefits
- 3 Bankers could face jail after report urges the Government to introduce new criminal offence for reckless management
- 4 Breaking the Silence: In the reality of occupation, there are no Palestinian civilians – only potential terrorists
- 5 We never knew Nigella Lawson - and we still don’t
How will you make today delicious?
Tell us how you plan to make today delicious and you could win a £50 M&S gift card.
Win a Nook® Simple Touch eReader
Find out how Nook® is supporting the Evening Standard's Get Reading campaign - and your chance to win one.
Free reading festival for families
Follow The Standard's campaign to get London's children reading - and experience this unique event at Trafalgar Square on 13 July.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Babies behind bars
Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm
The art of living in small spaces
Can technology lure us back to the high street?


Comments