The BBC National Short Story Award 2021

A group of teenage boys take turns assessing each other??? s changing bodies before a Friday night disco??? A grieving woman strikes up an unlikely friendship with a fellow traveller on a night train to Kiev??? An unusually well-informed naturalist is eyed with suspicion by his comrades on a forest exhibition with a higher purpose??? The stories shortlisted for the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University take place in liminal spaces ??? their characters find themselves in transit, travelling along flight paths, train lines and roads, or in moments where new opportunities or directions suddenly seem possible. From the reflections of a new mother flying home after a funeral, to an ailing son??? s reluctance to return to the village of his childhood, these stories celebrate small kindnesses in times of turbulence, and demonstrate a connection between one another that we might sometimes take for granted. The BBC NSSA is one of the most prestigious prizes for a single short story, with the winning author receiving £ 15,000, and four further shortlisted authors £ 600 each.