BBC National Short Story Award 2014

The wait is almost over to find out the winner of the 2014 BBC National Short Story Award. Revealed live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row at 19:15, BBC Arts’ cameras will also stream the announcement as it is made in front of a 300-strong audience at the BBC’s Radio Theatre in central London.

It is not giving anything away to say the £15,000 prize will be going to a woman as once again there is an all-female shortlist, the third time that has happened in nine years. Five writers have tackled pivotal moments in a woman’s life from girlhood to middle age, including sex and love, death and disintegration.

The shortlisted stories are Bad Dreams by Tessa Hadley, The Taxidermist's Daughter by Francesca Rhydderch, Kilifi Creek by Lionel Shriver, Miss Adele Amidst the Corsets by Zadie Smith and The American Lover by Rose Tremain.

The award, held in partnership with Booktrust, is chaired by BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob. The judging panel includes Scribe Publications Editor Philip Gwyn Jones, writer and illustrator Laura Dockrill, poet Adam Foulds, and BBC Books Editor Di Speirs.

Let us know what you think of the shortlist on Twitter with the hashtag #BBCNSSA.