Sunday Times launches

Writers Lynn Barber, A S Byatt, Nick Hornby and Hanif Kureishi plus the literary editor of the Sunday Times Andrew Holgate are to judge a new prize which will be the world's richest for an individual short story.

The Sunday Times/EFG Private Bank Short Story Award has a first prize of £25,000, and there will be five runner-up prizes of £500 each. The annual award is open to authors who have been published in the UK and Ireland. The non-voting chairman of the judges is Matthew Evans.

John Witherow, editor of the Sunday Times, said: "Our weekly short story has been a great success, attracting some of the most talented names among them Julian Barnes, William Trevor, Hilary Mantel and Zoe Heller. It has also tempted authors such as Alexei Sayle, Frank Skinner and Julie Burchill to try their hand at the genre for the first time. I am delighted that EFG Private Bank has agreed to join us in this great initiative to further the popularity of the short story in Britain and Ireland."

Lord Evans, chairman of EFG Private Bank and previously chairman of Faber, said: "I am particularly pleased to have the opportunity to connect my earlier career in book publishing with my current activities in banking."

The award builds on the newspaper's weekly short story section, introduced by Cathy Galvin, deputy editor of the Sunday Times Magazine, in November 2008. It is being administered by independent charity Booktrust, with the closing date of 30th November; the winner and runners-up will be announced at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival in March 2010.

An interview with the winner will appear in the Sunday Times and winning stories will be published in the Magazine and online with additional podcasts/audio downloads.

Full details are available http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/... target="_blank">here.