Shani Akilah’s story ‘A Short Trip to Tesco’ has been shortlisted for the Writers’ & Artists’ Short Story Competition 2023 after previously making the longlist.
Shani’s story was one of eight selected from a longlist of sixteen titles and over 850 entries to this year’s competition, themed around ‘Writing Love’. The shortlist was chosen by writer Naomi Booth.
Speaking about judging the competition, Naomi Booth said ‘It was a delight to read these short stories about love—in part because of their commitment to the surprising, the various, the ephemeral, and the difficult to articulate. There were brilliant stories in this longlist that focussed on the sharp and tender pain of lost loves; on the wordless dislocation of maternal love; on new friendships and the rush of fresh beginnings.’
‘A Short Trip to Tesco’ will appear in Shani’s upcoming debut short story collection.
About Shani Akilah
Shani Akilah is a 28 year-old Black-British writer from South London of Caribbean heritage (Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica). She is an avid reader and book blogger and was spotlighted as a ‘Key Black Influencer’ by DoubleDay Books.
Shani is passionate about community and bringing people together and is the co-founder of Nyah Network, a book club for black women and is also the founder of contributor based platform, Bankra, that explored the navigated identities of black millennials.
Shani loves travelling, and has spent significant time in Ghana as part of her studies. Shani has a Masters degree in African Studies from Oxford University with research exploring counter-diasporic return and issues of home and belonging amongst second-generation British-Ghanaians.