Snaith wins Bristol Short Story Prize

Leicester-based writer Mahsuda Snaith has won the 2014 Bristol Short Story Prize for her work "The Art of Flood Survival".

Snaith, announced as the winner of the £1,000 prize on Saturday (25th October), beat almost 2,500 other entrants from more than 60 countries to win the competition.

Writer Sara Davies, chair of the judging panel, said: "Mahsuda’s story about a young Bangladeshi servant girl is tender and tough, and impressed us all with its sureness of touch. The voice of its young narrator, with its mix of hope and cynicism, longing and pragmatism, is both believable and compelling, and her determination to turn the world to her advantage against all odds is beautifully and boldly explored with some lovely touches of sharp humour.”

Snaith said: ”I’m over the moon about winning especially because I’ve read the Bristol Short Story anthologies before, [they are] always such good quality. It’s amazing, I was just happy to be in the anthology. Winning is a massive bonus.”

Also on the judging panel were literary agent, Rowan Lawton; writer, broadcaster and academic Sanjida O’Connell; and writer, journalist and performer Nikesh Shukla.

Claire Griffiths, a graduate of UEA Creative Writing MA, won second prize for "Tata and Mama and Me", and Tom Vowler, author of two novels published by Headline and a short story collection published by Salt Publishing, won third Prize with "Debt".

The international writing competition based in Bristol was founded by the Bristol Review of Books magazine and is in its seventh year.

All 19 shortlisted stories, and Snaith’s winning entry, are in the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology: Volume 7 (Tangent Press), which launched on Saturday.