The 2018 Award Ceremony was broadcast live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row from West Road Concert Hall at the University of Cambridge. The winner of the 2018 BBC National Short Story Award and the Young Writers’ Award was announced in a programme celebrating the power and possibilities of the short story.

In the programme, Judges Sarah Howe and Stig Abell discuss the merits of the entries from the shortlisted authors. In contention for the £15,000 prize are Kerry Andrew, Sarah Hall, Kiare Ladner, Ingrid Persaud and Nell Stevens. Radio 1 presenter Katie Thistleton will announces the winner of the BBC Young Writers’ Award and considers the strengths and emerging themes of the stories with fellow judge Sarah Crossan, the Irish Children’s Laureate / Laureate na nÓg.

The programme also featured the Student Critics’ Award, a new scheme mentoring school students in their critical reading, helping this generation to be literary critics in a digital world where everyone can be a reviewer. Poet Dean Atta has been workshopping in a school and describes his work with the young people he met.