The shortlist for the 2025 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University was announced on Thursday, 11 September, during BBC Radio 4’s Front Row program. The announcement comes as the award marks its 20th year.
The University of Cambridge continues its support for the prize, which is regarded as one of the leading literary awards in the UK for a single short story. The award aims to create more opportunities for British writers and promote excellence in short fiction. Staff, students, and researchers from Cambridge are involved in this partnership, including professional development initiatives for PhD students through a BBC shadowing scheme.
This year’s shortlisted stories are:
- ‘Yair’ by Emily Abdeni-Holman
- ‘You Cannot Thread a Moving Needle’ by Colwill Brown
- ‘Little Green Man’ by Edward Hogan
- ‘Two Hands’ by Caoilinn Hughes
- ‘Rain, a History’ by Andrew Miller
The stories take place in locations such as Derbyshire, Doncaster, Jerusalem, and County Kildare. They explore themes related to relationships, community, and personal experience.
All five shortlisted works will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 15 to 19 September and made available on BBC Sounds. They will also be included in an anthology published by Comma Press. The winner will receive £15,000 while each of the other shortlisted authors will get £600. The winner will be announced live on Front Row on Tuesday, 30 September 2025.
The partnership between Cambridge and the BBC National Short Story Award is led by Dr Bonnie Lander Johnson (Fellow and Associate Professor in English at Downing and Newnham Colleges) and Dr Elizabeth Rawlinson-Mills (University Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Fellow of Robinson College).
Dr Lander Johnson said:
“The National Short Story Awards continue to be the largest and most prestigious awards of their kind in the UK. I am proud to represent the University on this partnership; I believe we have a role to play in supporting the production of literary excellence in Britain. Storytelling is an essential human impulse through which we reflect on our changing world, inspire younger generations, and make sense of our collective and individual lives. It is essential that Cambridge University remains part of such crucial cultural work. Who are we if we cannot tell our stories?”
Dr Rawlinson-Mills added:
“The short story as a form is intense. Compact, powerful, challenging – for the writer and, often, for the reader. Each year the National Short Story Award brings us into contact with some of the most exciting voices in English writing, and over the past twenty years it’s been a privilege to see the ways in which winning this prize has boosted writers’ profiles and brought their work to new audiences through the broadcasts on R4. Every year there are new reasons to feel that we need stories more than ever. I am very proud of the part the University of Cambridge continues to play in supporting the prize and therefore supporting new writing.”
In 2025, support for the award comes from several parts of Cambridge including its School of Arts and Humanities; School of Humanities and Social Sciences; Faculties of English and Education; Downing College; Robinson College; University Library; Fitzwilliam Museum; and Institute for Professional and Continuing Education (PACE).
PhD students at Cambridge benefit from involvement with BBC teams through a shadowing scheme that develops skills relevant to cultural engagement.
Since its inception in 2006, winners have included established writers such as Sarah Hall, Cynan Jones, Ingrid Persaud, Saba Sams as well as prominent alumni like Zadie Smith, Hilary Mantel, Tessa Hadley and Caleb Azumah Nelson.
For more information about this year’s award or previous winners visit www.bbc.co.uk/nssa.