D.W. Wilson

Alison MacLeod

M.J. Hyland

John McGregor

K.J. Orr

‘We are living through a golden moment in the history of the short story,’ wrote The Guardian recently, and the annual BBC National Short Story Award is both a testament to this, and one of the reasons why we are. Now in its sixth year, the Award supports and showcases Britain’s best new short fiction and continues to champion the short story as a central literary form. Themes of desire, envy and disconnection provide recurring motifs for the five shortlisted stories presented here – the extremes that love can endure and what happens when love is not enough. The panel of judges this year included novelist Tessa Hadley, novelist and critic Geoff Dyer, poet and author of Submarine, Joe Dunthorne and BBC Editor of Readings, Di Speirs. The panel was chaired by broadcaster Sue MacGregor who also introduces the selection.

The BBC National Short Story Award 2011

Bernardine Evaristo

Nikesh Shukla

Carys Bray

Donal Ryan

Grace McCleen

Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

The perfect alternative Valentine's gift Startlingly original stories S Magazine Together they assert that love is more heart-breaking and transforming that the word necessarily conveys. Observer Love is not a singular concept. In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from Philautia, self-love, to Agape, love for humanity; and from Storge, a natural affection for family, to Mania, a frenzied, obsessive love. Seven authors; seven short stories; seven flashes of love. 'Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.' Zelda Fitzgerald This paperback edition of How Much the Heart Can Hold includes the winning short story from the SceptreLoves short story Prize.

Seven Stories on Love

How Much the Heart Can Hold: the perfect alternative Valentine's gift

D.W. Wilson

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