大象传媒

Aimee-Ffion Edwards reads Jo Lloyd's shortlisted story. A remote Welsh community hovers on the brink of poverty in this hypnotic tale about the fantasies people embrace to make life bearable and what happens when the cracks begin to show in the carefully constructed illusion they鈥檝e created.

Now in its fourteenth year, the 大象传媒 National Short Story Award is one of the most prestigious for a single short story. Following the announcement of the shortlist on Radio 4's Front Row, on Friday, 6th September, the five stories in contention for the 2019 award will be broadcast each weekday afternoon on Radio 4 at half past three from Monday, 9th September. To find out who wins this year, listeners should tune into Front Row on Tuesday, 1st October where the hotly anticipated announcement will be made live from the 大象传媒 Radio Theatre.

The shortlisted entries for this year's 大象传媒 National Short Story Award with Cambridge University are an eclectic mix, spanning a breadth of themes and topics; from confronting modern social and cultural issues to the contemporary and the political, and then onto the fantastical and escapist. Rich in variety the stories are united in their quest for empathy and understanding in an increasingly intolerant world.

Abridged by Rowan Routh
Produced by Gemma Jenkins