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Madeleine Thien a finalist for U.K.’s 2015 EFG Short Story Award

madeleine_thien2B.C. author Madeleine Thien has been named one of six finalists for The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award, the world’s richest prize for a work of short fiction, for her story “The Wedding Cake.”

The story tells of four friends reunited in Montreal decades after sharing a childhood in war-torn Lebanon.

This year’s jury comprises broadcaster and critic Alex Clark, director Sir Richard Eyre, writers Aminatta Forna and Elif Shafak, Sunday Times literary editor Andrew Holgate, and non-voting chairman Matthew Evans.

The shortlist is as follows:

  • Rebecca F. John, “The Glove Maker’s Numbers” (U.K.)
  • Yiyun Li, “A Sheltered Woman” (U.S.)
  • Elizabeth McCracken, “Hungry” (U.S.)
  • Paula Morris, “False River” (New Zealand)
  • Scott O’Connor, “Interstellar Space” (U.S.)
  • Madeleine Thien, “The Wedding Cake” (Canada)

The winner will receive £30,000, and each shortlisted author, £1,000. The finalists’ stories will be compiled into an ebook, Six Shorts 2015, to appear March 1. The award will be presented at a ceremony at London’s Stationers’ Hall on April 24.