The Guardian has the shortlist:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1746183,00.html

I am, of course, sulking furiously not be on it, but on the whole I think it's possibly a good thing to have such four big names and only one 'unknown' on it, since the whole idea was to raise the public profile of the short story, rather than just preaching to the converted or the aspiring.

Emma

Was it judged anonymously, Emma?

It's not a prize for aspiring writers, by the looks of it. More like the Booker of the short story.

No, to my surprise, it wasn't judged anonymously, which was perhaps a mistake (well, obviously it's also a mistake that they left all the WWers off the list ). I suppose they felt this was for established writers, and so it would be obvious, or something. Entries were only accepted from published writers - though there must have been plenty from unknowns like me. I can't see why something like this shouldn't be anonymous; the advantage is clear, and what's the disadvantage? But it's always difficult to whinge convincingly about a competition one's just not got anywhere in.

Emma

It's also an awful lot of prize money to give away if the selection is not solely on the basis of quality of writing, which it just can't be when the writers' identities are already known.

I wonder how they performed the first cull. My cynical mind assumes most stories were brushed aside unread. What a pity if this is true, and what a pity this is not anonymous. Suddenly, to my mind, it is no longer recognition for the finest short story writing, but for the finest writing among the writers they know. Sad.

Did anyone else listen to Front Row yesterday evening? James Lasdun was presented with the first prize and Michel Faber came second.

The presenter, I think it was Mark Lawson, seemed a bit incoherent - first off he remarked that £15,000 was quite a lot on a per-word basis (i.e. to get for a mere short story), then he quickly backtracked, 'but that's not the point, it's quality that counts'. James Lasdun replied mildly "Er, yes."

I was left with the feeling that UK campaigners on behalf of the short story have plenty of work still to do...

Frances

It may just have been Mark L. being ill-prepared. On the other hand, you're right, off-the-cuff stuff can be very revealing...

Emma