The shortlist for the ninth year of the 4thWrite prize, the short story competition for unpublished writers of colour run by the publisher 4th Estate in association with the Guardian, has been unveiled.<\/p>\n
The six shortlisted stories offer readers \u201cheart, humour, pain, intrigue, mysticism and emotional complexity\u201d, said judge Candice Carty-Williams<\/a>, who founded the prize while working as a marketing executive at 4th Estate before going on to publish her bestselling novel Queenie<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nana Kwesi Boateng was shortlisted for Allah Must Be a Black Boy, which Caleb Femi \u2013 the author, director, photographer, and a judge for this year\u2019s competition \u2013 described as \u201ca hauntingly lyrical meditation on migration and survival\u201d.<\/p>\n Yasmina Floyer made the list for Gorgeous, which fellow judge and Guardian features writer Lucy Knight described as an \u201cintriguing and entertaining take on misogyny and ageing told through the lens of horror\u201d.<\/p>\n Linda Helen Yu was selected for Mira, an \u201cuncanny exploration of loneliness and our place in the world\u201d, according to Monica MacSwan, a judge and associate agent at Aitken Alexander.<\/p>\n Jacqueline-Faith \u00cds\u1ecd\u0301l\u00e1 appears on the shortlist for One Thousand Demons. \u201cIn this laugh-out-loud tale set in a Nigerian church, a pastor\u2019s true colours are exposed\u201d, said Knight. \u201cThis story buzzes with gossip and secrets, making for a highly enjoyable read.\u201d<\/p>\n Piyumi Kapugeekiyana was chosen for The Original Is Not Here, a story addressing the \u201chot-potato topic of cancel culture with great skill, offering a nuanced and thought-provoking take\u201d, said Knight.<\/p>\n Completing the shortlist is We\u2019ve Defrosted Abraham Lincoln by Monica Davis, which Femi described as \u201cplayful, absurd and piercingly smart\u201d.<\/p>\n The winner of this year\u2019s prize, who will be announced on 1 October, will receive \u00a31,000 and a one-day publishing workshop at 4th Estate. Their story will be published on the Guardian website.<\/p>\n Writers previously recognised through the award include Bolu Babalola<\/a>, the author of Love in Colour and Honey & Spice, Guy Gunaratne, who wrote In Our Mad and Furious City and Mister, Mister, and Kit Fan, author of Diamond Hill.<\/p>\n Alongside Carty-Williams, MacSwan, Knight and Femi on this year\u2019s judging panel were athlete Jazmin Sawyers and 4th Estate publisher Kishani Widyaratna.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cThis year\u2019s shortlist was a total privilege to read,\u201d said Carty-Williams. \u201cThrough these stories we were transported to familiar and foreign lands, and to emotional and spiritual places unknown. The breadth of these characters we met in short- form were as vast as the scale of these worlds created, and the ambition of each story was not lost on us the judges.\u201d<\/p>\n The shortlisted stories \u201chave taken us on a dizzying, whirlwind tour across borders, down histories, through a gamut of emotions high and low and, in the end, have playfully pushed us to reconsider our understanding of each other and those around us\u201d, said Widyaratna. \u201cThe result is a daring, imaginative and original list of thrilling new voices and we can\u2019t wait to see what they do next.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI remember reading the first set of short stories when I started the prize in 2016 and felt similarly then as I do now,\u201d Carty-Williams added. \u201cThese stories matter. These writers matter. They\u2019ve always mattered. We just need to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n