Bret Anthony Johnston has been announced as the winner of the award at the prize dinner at Stationers’ Hall today, Thursday 27 April.

Johnston receives the award for his story, entitled Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses. The story follows Atlee Rouse’s life-long passion for horses, and the way in which he recalls it when his memory falters in old age.

The five other shortlisted writers each received £1,000. The titles of their short stories are:

• Reputation Management by Kathleen Alcott
• The Hazel Twig and the Olive Tree by Richard Lambert
• The Tenant by Victor Lodato
• Every Little Thing by Celeste Ng
• Mr Salary by Sally Rooney

This year’s judges were Anne Enright, Andrew Holgate, Mark Lawson and Neel Mukherjee and Rose Tremain.

Read Johnston’s winning story, as well as all the other shortlisted stories on the Sunday Times website here.

More about the Award

The Award accepts entries of 6,000 words or under published in English from fiction authors from anywhere in the world who have been published in the UK or Ireland. The Award reflects The Sunday Times’ support for outstanding writing and the rich literary heritage of the newspaper, and the ongoing commitment of EFG, a leading international private bank, to the literary world. It is the Society of Authors first year of managing the prize.

The 2018 prize will be open for submissions later this year.