Bath Spa graduate wins Stripes YA short story prize

Tracy Darnton, a graduate of the Bath Spa MA in writing for young people, has won this year’s Stripes YA Short Story Prize, run in partnership with The Bookseller’s YA Book Prize.

Darnton’s The Letter, chosen from a shortlist of six, will be published in Stripes’ I’ll Be Home for Christmas, an anthology of stories about Christmas alongside works by established authors such as Melvin Burgess, Juno Dawson and Non Pratt. At least £1 from the sale of each book will be donated to the Crisis at Christmas appeal.

Darnton has also been invited to appear at this year’s Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC).

The winning story was chosen by a team of judges from the YA Book Prize, including author Katherine Woodfine and Waterstones YA buyer Kate McHale, who praised Darnton’s instinctive feel for writing and good understanding of structure and composition.

Stripes senior commissioning editor Ruth Bennett said: “I'll Be Home for Christmas really showcases the breadth of talent writing for Young Adult readers in the UK today. It's an exciting time to be publishing in this area and we are proud of this opportunity to launch a new voice. I'm sure we'll be hearing much more about Tracy Darnton in the future.”

I’ll be Home for Christmas will be published by Stripes on 22nd September 2016.