Promoting & celebrating the excellence of the modern short story

The Sunday Times Short Story Award is the richest prize for a single short story in the English language, worth £30,000 to the winner. The award is open to any novelist or short story writer from around the world who is published in the UK.

2016 winner

Jonathan Tel takes the top spot with 'The Human Phonograph'

Read the winning story

The 2016 shortlist

See the shortlist

Nicholas Ruddock

With their story: 'Phosphorescence'

Alix Christie

With their story: 'The Dacha'

Jonathan Tel

With their story: 'The Human Phonograph'

Petina Gappah

With their story: 'The News of Her Death'

Edith Pearlman

With their story: 'Unbeschert'

Colum McCann

With their story: 'What Time Is It Now, Where You Are?'

Latest news for the 2016 award

Short-story co-founder Matthew Evans dies

7th July 2016

We are very sad to report the death on July 6 of Matthew Evans, the former chairman of EFG Private Bank and a driving force behind the creation of the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.

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Our 2016 winner: Jonathan Tel

21st April 2016

At a gala dinner at the Stationers’ Hall in London on Friday, April 22, Jonathan Tel received the 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award for his story, The Human Phonograph.

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A look back at the 2015 winner

Yiyun Li took the top spot with their story 'A Sheltered Woman'

Read the winning story