The shortlist for the 2026 BBC National Short Story Award with the University of Cambridge has been announced, bringing together five writers whose stories move across landscapes, generations and intimate forms of human connection. Revealed on September 10 on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, the all-female shortlist features three returning finalists – Lucy Caldwell, Caoilinn Hughes and Cherise Saywell – and two first-time nominees, Laura Beatty and Merryn Glover. The shortlisted stories are “Two Minutes to Midnight,” “Little Lands,” “Burning Bush,” “A Second Opinion” and “Ditto,” exploring subjects including ageing, memory, female ambition, loneliness, family, domestic violence and humanity’s relationship with nature.

The shortlist also reflects the international range of contemporary short fiction. Beatty’s “Two Minutes to Midnight” follows a retired doctor contemplating loss, time and the natural world, while Caldwell’s “Little Lands” layers childhood and motherhood through a remembered viewing of The Sound of Music. Hughes’s “A Second Opinion” centres on a widowed woman navigating family and friendship in Galway, while Glover’s “Burning Bush” returns to the Australian landscape through an isolated man awaiting an encounter with his estranged family. Saywell’s “Ditto,” meanwhile, portrays a child confronting violence in his home, finding a moment of courage through an unexpected connection with a neighbour.

Marking the award’s 21st anniversary, the 2026 judging panel is chaired by Di Speirs, who has judged the award since its launch, alongside Saba Sams, Tahmima Anam, Will Eaves and Andrew Michael Hurley. Each shortlisted story will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 3:30 p.m. from September 14 to 18, with episodes available afterward on BBC Sounds. The award’s organisers describe this year’s stories as attentive to the ways fiction can reconnect people in a fractured world, bringing private experiences of grief, memory, loneliness and courage into the wider imaginative space of the short story.

Author