RSL Events
The V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize evening
Jackie Kay
Paula Johnson
Somerset House, 7pm
Information
As well as being a prolific poet and the author of a prize-winning novel, Trumpet, Jackie Kay has written three volumes of short stories. The latest, Reality, Reality, studies the bizarre strategies adopted by 'the recently bereaved, the dumped, the chucked' to cope with loneliness, and was published to great acclaim earlier this year. What attracts her to the short story is its focus and 'intensity': 'it's like having a malt whisky really, a short story. You can have a wee malt but if you tried to drink a whole pint of whisky you'd be dead.' Kay reads from her stories and discusses them with Paula Johnson, who runs the RSL's prizes. The V.S. Pritchett Memorial Prize is awarded for the best unpublished short story of the year. After the announcement and presentation of the prize for 2012, the winning entry is read by its author.
We are grateful to Christopher and Jennie Bland for sponsoring the prize, to Prospect magazine for publishing the winning entry, and to ALCS for making this event possible.
Jackie Kay photographed by Mary McCartney
Booking Information
Members and Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature can book for our winter events now, online or by telephone, 020 7845 4676.
Seats for guests (one per meeting) must also be booked in advance.
There is a limited number of tickets available for members of the public at all RSL events.
This season, for the first time, the RSL is opening bookings to the public one week in advance of each event. As we do not have a box office, we ask that the public book online.
Tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis, for £8.
Venue
Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London WC2R 1LA.
