The V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize is an annual award for unpublished short stories between 2000 to 4000 words in length. The winner will receive £1,000 and their entry will be published in Prospect magazine online and the RSL Review. We’re delighted to have a longlist of 11 fantastic stories, picked from hundreds of entries.

The judges, Jenn Ashworth, Cynan Jones and Emma Paterson, have selected:

• Kaliane Bradley – ‘Doggerland’
• Gary Evans – ‘THE MILK’
• Jeremy Galgut – ‘My Son Is Floating Through Spain’
• Katie Hale – ‘Wast Water, or The Deepest Love in England’
• Chris Kohler – ‘E Is For’
• Toby Litt – ‘What Have You Done? What Have You Done?’
• Martin Raymond – ‘Messengers at Arms’
• Bethan Roberts – ‘The Living’
• Ruskin Smith – ‘Oddjobbing’
• S.Y. Tam – ‘The Sparrows’
• Phoebe Walker – ‘Only busier from here’

The 2022 shortlist will be announced Thursday 16 March 2023, with the winner of the 2022 V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize announced on Thursday 30 March 2023.

The RSL is grateful to the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) for supporting this Prize. The RSL is also grateful to Prospect for publishing the winning story online.