Press release:

Edward Hogan wins the 2020/21 GBP Short Story Prize

‘SINGLE SIT’ by Edward Hogan has won the 2020/21 Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize.

Now in its sixth year, 2020/21 been a record year for the prize, which received over 1400 entries from all over the world: from Nigeria to the USA, New Zealand to Iran, India to France, Germany, Mexico, Spain... and beyond.

It was harder than ever to choose a winner with so much talent on display – and the process involved almost three months of solid reading.

As Sam Jordison, co-director of Galley Beggar Press, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to our wonderful judges Catherine Taylor, Sam Fisher for their diligent reading and for making the prize this year such a thoroughly enjoyable process.”  

He is joined by fellow co-director Eloise Millar, who also thanked the writers who submitted (“Making it a truly difficult task – but also a profoundly rewarding and inspiring one”), as well as the readers who help to make the Prize so successful:

“All of the longlisted and shortlisted stories are available on the site – and this year, over 6000 readers have logged in to enjoy them. That feels like an extraordinary number, and a very special thing to be able to offer our writers on the prize list (many of them just starting out). It also says something about the quality of work that people have come to expect from the prize, which is continually inspiring.”

Of Edward Hogan and ‘Single Sit’, the novelist, short story writer, and prize judge Eley Williams described the winning story as:

“… A masterclass in both characterisation and ways in which the short story form can present negotiations of psychological, hierarchical and geographical space with verve and tenacity. The simple becomes complex, the absurd becomes intimate – a wry, tender, provocative work.” 

Catherine Taylor added:

“It has been sheer joy to have shared lively and invigorating discussions around such an impressive set of short stories. In Edward Hogan’s ‘Single Sit’ – which, like several others, stood out from the beginning – the narrative arc is never forced and the story works beautifully and unexpectedly on many levels, with not a word wasted. A real accomplishment.”

Edward Hogan is the author of several novels including The Electric, Blackmoor, and The Hunger Trace. His recent short stories have also been longlisted for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award, and shortlisted for the V.S. Pritchett Prize, and the Manchester Fiction Prize. He was joined by Nora Thurkle (‘Inaudible Frequencies’) and Lauren Van Schaik (‘Kitchen With An Island’) on the shortlist.

Notes for editors:

Further details about the prize can be found here.

You can read Edward Hogan’s story here.

The prize will re-open for entries in June. (The prize costs £10 to enter; although we also provide 150 free entries – no questions asked – for writers enduring financial hardship.)

The previous winners of the prize are: Isha Karki, Anna Wood, C.S. Mee, Yelena Moskovich and Riona Judge McCormack. (Edward Hogan is the first male winner.)