The Devil's Bathtub

Ten International Prizewinning Short Stories from the Biscuit Publishing Competition 2005

£9.99 paperback with two CDs
ISBN 978-1-903914-26-7

Words Out Loud – a kind of foreword

I have good news for British writers and readers. The short story is alive and well. Rumours of its demise are greatly exaggerated. The rest of the world already knows this of course. And the short story is in good voice, recorded here on two audio CDs. Listen to the spoken word while you’re on the move or lounging in an easy chair. And you still have the delicious option of picking up this book and enjoying the written word.

I believe that one of the nicest things to happen to your own work is to have it performed by an actor; to be able to sit back and listen to a rediscovery of it, see it illuminated by a different lamp and to engage with that new storytelling voice. It’s a way of excavating something new, exciting, even challenging out of your own words.

To go on and have it recorded allows you the privilege of sharing it with other people, whose own listening and attention adds new voice to the work. Seeing how it can just snowball. And I like that.

Celia Bryce

There are a great many short story competitions, all providing a platform for new writing. That is good for writers and readers, and – in the main – it’s good for creative literature. Biscuit took a chance in 2005. There were two main considerations in doing so.

Firstly, we wanted to attract only the very best writers. Secondly, in order to attract the best writers the entry requirements became slightly more complicated, with the introduction of an innovative ‘Portfolio System.’ The Portfolio System was devised to provide a wider overview of the writer’s ability. Short stories stand/sit on a three-legged stool. The opening; the middle; the ending. All three must be equally strong. (Would you buy a stool that had a wobbly leg?) Through the portfolio system, the reading panel could consider, not only the primary short story, but also the two story-openings that made up the portfolio. The complete story provided strong evidence of literary prowess. The two openings indicated prolificacy, the potential to write more than just one good story! That is a prerequisite for winning the Biscuit First Prize, because a major feature of the award is further publication, by Biscuit. We commit to that.

The ten stories published and recorded here, were selected from 322 powerful entries that came from countries all around the world. Our in-house judging panel reads every entry. We are therefore highly conscious of logistics, and well aware of the difficulties there can be in reading – thoroughly – mountains of stories. And so it suits us to have a manageable number of entries. Every one of the full and complete stories was excellent, a few of the supporting openings needed strengthening, that’s all. All of the writers will go on to achieve their own personal ambitions – provided they do not lose heart or interest.

Some of the ‘Top Ten’ published in this book have been Biscuit entrants before, short-listed in previous years. It is to their credit that they kept on trying. They believed in the Biscuit Prize, and supported it, and we thank them for that. But most of all – they kept on believing in themselves. We thank them for that too, on behalf of the world, because the world’s reading peoples are the ultimate winners.

Brian Lister
Judge's remarks, 2005 Biscuit Short Story Competition