Social work and 'creative writing' lecturer beats major literary names to clinch short story prize

Press release issued: 10 July 2009



Chris Beckett pictured at home
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Anglia Ruskin University author writes sci-fi with a 'human touch'

An Anglia Ruskin University social work lecturer's short story collection has won the Edge Hill Prize for the Short Story, the UK's only national award for single-author short story collections, launched three years ago by Edge Hill University.

Chris Beckett, who also teaches on a range of Anglia Ruskin University's creative writing courses, was nominated for his collection of science fiction stories The Turing Test, published in 2008 by Elastic Press. His book was on a short list of five alongside books by Ali Smith, Anne Enright, Shena Mackay and Gerald Donovan. He was announced winner of the award at a ceremony at Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool on July 4th.



Speaking about the fact that his sci-fi work had triumphed over the top-named nominees, Chris Beckett said:

"I am very proud of my stories and I am delighted to receive this prize. All the other shortlisted authors have considerable reputations as literary authors and are published by major publishing houses, so it was great that the judges went for a collection of science fiction stories from a very small publisher, specially since none of the three judges was previously a science fiction reader.

"I was also very pleased that in addition to the main prize I won the Readers' Prize which is awarded by members of reading groups run by a Liverpool based charity called Get into Reading, which tries to encourage people who might not normally think of reading to do so."

The front cover of 'The Turing Test' by Chris Beckett
The 14 stories that make up The Turing Test feature, among other things, robots, alien planets, genetic manipulation and virtual reality, but their centre focuses on individuals rather than technology, and they deal with love and loneliness, authenticity and illusion, and what it really means to be human.

Chris Beckett's first story was published in Interzone in 1990, and his stories have since appeared in Britain, the US and Russia. His novel The Holy Machine was published in 2004 by Wildside Press and his second novel, Marcher by Leisure Books, in 2008. He also writes books on social work.

This year's judges included James Walton, journalist and chair of BBC Radio 4's The Write Stuff; Claire Keegan, last year's winner of the Prize and Mark Flynn, Vice Chancellor of Edge Hill University.

Chris was presented with the £5,000 prize and the £1000 second prize at the ceremony.

The readers' prize is judged primarily by Get into Reading, an organisation that gives people who might not normally think of joining a reading group a chance to enjoy stories and poems together.

Ailsa Cox, from Edge Hill University's Department of English and History, comments:

"We were thrilled by the range and quality of the shortlist. Some of these names are already familiar from the Booker and the Orange Prize, while others are newer discoveries. Not many prizes put a science fiction author from a small press alongside the literary heavyweights. I'm especially pleased that there's so much humour in the writing - another great year for the prize."

Chris teaches on a range of creative writing courses including undergraduate courses and on the new MA in Creative Writing. For more information on courses, please contact Sarah Jones or telephone 0845 196 2981.
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