Edinburgh-based writer Cherise Saywell has won this year's BBC national short story award for a “tender” and “taut” story about a young boy caught in the midst of domestic violence.
Saywell was announced as the winner of the £15,000 award, run in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, at a ceremony held at BBC Broadcasting House on Tuesday evening.
A story rooted in a small town
Set in an isolated Australian town inspired by the place where Saywell grew up, the story follows a boy nicknamed Ditto as he grapples with what to do when his mother is threatened, eventually finding the courage to use a public telephone box to call the police.
“Taut and beautifully crafted, tender and deeply rooted in one dusk evening and one small town, Saywell's story writing is assured and true and we are absolutely delighted that Ditto is this year's winner,” said Di Speirs, chair of the judging panel.
Exploring children's experience of violence
Saywell, who was born and raised in Australia and has lived in Scotland since 1996, said she wanted to explore “how children experience violence, when they have no words for the things they are experiencing”.
“They feel love and fear and responsibility all at the same time, but have no name for what's happening around them,” she said.
Saywell is the author of two novels, Desert Fish and Twitcher. Her short fiction has won the Pindrop short story award, the Mslexia short story prize and the VS Pritchett prize, and she has also been shortlisted for the Bristol prize and Asham award. She works for the Royal Literary Fund.
Shortlist and judges
Saywell beat an all-female shortlist that included Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes, Lucy Caldwell, who won the award in 2021, biographer and novelist Laura Beatty, and Merryn Glover. Each of the authors shortlisted for the short story award receives £600. Their stories appear in an anthology published by Comma Press, and are available to listen to on BBC Sounds.
“Full of vivid descriptions, mounting tensions, and a compelling character, Ditto is a moving reminder of how much life a short story can hold and what's simmering beneath the surface. It really is beautifully told,” said Dr Yvonne Battle-Felton, academic director for creative writing at the University of Cambridge.
Speirs was joined on the judging panel by 2022 winner Saba Sams and two former shortlisted writers, Tahmima Anam and Will Eaves, and Costa best first novel award winner, Andrew Michael Hurley.
A major prize for a single story
The BBC national short story award is one of the UK's major prizes for a single short story. Previous winners include Sarah Hall, Jonathan Buckley, Lucy Caldwell, Ingrid Persaud and Saba Sams. Last year's award was won by Colwill Brown for You Cannot Thread a Moving Needle.
The winner of the young writer's award, open to 14 to 18-year-olds, was also announced at the ceremony. Eloise Barrett, a 17-year-old sixth former from Birmingham, won for Bloodshed in Rafah, a “heartwrenching” story about the reality of a childhood affected by war.
