The Sensitively Thin Bill of the Shag

Poetry by:

Sue Vickerman, Gordon Hodgeon, Mike Marqusee, Joan Michelson, Derek Adams, Andrew Neil Blewitt, Tom Bryan, Sean Burn, Graham Clifford, Bernadette Cremin, Sylvia Goodman, John Halladay, Doreen Hinchliffe, Chris Kinsey, Lee Morris, Kathryn Moss, Daphne Rance, Jacqui Rowe, David Swann, Elizabeth Tate

Short Stories by:

Tracey Fuller, Peter Bromley, Tom Bryan, Josephine Fagan, Sue Vickerman, Karin Bachmann, Sean Burn, Tania Casselle, Owen Dwyer, Morag Hadley, Ruth Henderson, Jay Merill, Noreen Rees, Leonie Smith, Maurice J. Ryan, Stephen Wade, Chris Turner, Fay Wentworth, Sue Wood, Sally Zigmond

The Biscuit competition is now established as an annual event on the international literary scene. It is not the biggest competition in terms of numbers of entries, but that means the intake is manageable and all work is thoroughly read. Neither does it offer the highest prizes, but it does offer publication alongside prize monies. And it promises to publish, it does not tease with the idea. (See the catalogue list on our website). Launched in 2000, Biscuit has already published seven titles – three poets’ collections and four anthologies – providing a total of one hundred and twenty writers’ works published. By the end of 2004 it will have published a further seven books: an anthology, three novellas and three poetry collections.

Biscuit now has Arts Council of England (North East) funding. That surely signals an endorsement of Biscuit’s credibility. The money provides for publishing three new writers (quite apart from those emerging directly from the competitions): two poets’ collections and a novella or collection of short fiction.

Why novella, indeed why short fiction? Be assured, it is not because they are cheaper to print. Biscuit supports literary works. The novella, of 25K to 40K words, utilizes very much the same tightly composed, minimalist form as the short story. Both require the skilled composition of heightened language and economy of words; very similar in fact to the art of poetry. That is why they sit side by side in this anthology.

But why do we have this situation? Why is short fiction being sidelined by mainstream publishers? The answer is obvious; it doesn’t sell enough copies to make money. Putting that another way, the public – and that means you and me – is not buying the books when they are offered. And why not? The answer to that is less obvious, but this writer has a sneaking feeling that writers themselves are to blame; and they are starting to realize it. The word “accessible” has lately entered the art world’s vocabulary. Could it be that a fairly recent school of writers has pitched its work at such a high academic level it has excluded the general reader? And can that apply to poets too, because poetry sales are in just as low a state? Can it be that writers have been expounding far too much energy on writing for fellow writers? Literary narcissism, gazing longingly at its own reflection in the lake, finally drowning in an attempt at sexual consummation? Art looking inwards upon itself, contemplating its own navel?

So what’s to do about it? We should not, will not, dumb down the work. What we can do, surely, is maintain academic standards and still provide an entertaining read. Making the work accessible. Accessible to the public readership. That is Biscuit’s belief, and that is why it employs both “academic” and “lay” readers to judge the competition entries. This writer has an MA in creative writing, but is not an intellectual; he just knows a good read of fiction and poetry when he sees it. And he played a part in judging the Biscuit entries. So did Subhadassi, who is a freelance poet, and so did Peter Lister, who is a police detective. And so did Denise Robertson, who is a best-selling novelist and agony aunt. A heady mix there, would you agree?

Biscuit entries this year arrived from all parts of the United Kingdom. There were also entries from the United Arab Emirates; Switzerland; Sicily; France; Ireland; Jersey; Hong Kong; Australia; yet oddly enough all of those were in the short story category; poets were wholly British – and Irish. So much then for the death of the short story; it seems to be still strongly alive around the world. And here’s a thing; I am informed that the short story is not just alive but thriving and strong in USA and Eastern Europe. By thriving, I take that to mean, such books are available in the bookshops and people are buying them in decent quantities. So what’s wrong in the UK? I would suggest that the answer can be found in the reading of contemporary North American literary fiction, short and long. We can learn a lot from the Alice Munros and Raymond Carvers et al across the Atlantic. And by the reading of Biscuit authors’ works. Unless of course, you know better?

Brian Lister
Judge's remarks, 2003 Biscuit Short Story Competition

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