A Dictionary of Light The Rhys Davies Short Story Award Anthology

Judged by Rebecca F. John In these twelve bold, tender, brilliant stories from the winners of the 2024 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, adults, children – and even an elephant – are challenged by ghosts of the past and a longing for friendship, meaning and connection as they try to make sense of their worlds. A group of lads unite on a bridge in the most horrific of circumstances; a family day out to celebrate the mid-harvest festival of Mabon does not go to plan; a research scientist grapples with the ethics of memory harvesting; one man tries to rebuild friendship through fishing; and a dancer disillusioned by broken dreams resorts to desperate means on board a ship. Here, lives are in transition – between cultures and language, past and present, dreams and reality. Characters, scarred and vulnerable, wander, and wonder. The stories within this collection, both traditional and experimental, present life in its myriad beautiful, heart wrenching, truthful forms.

Originally from Belfast, Elaine Canning is a festival and literary prize director, writer and editor living in Swansea, south Wales. She is currently Director of Swansea University’ s Cultural Institute and the Dylan Thomas Prize. As well as having written a monograph and papers on Spanish Golden-Age drama, she has published several short stories. Her debut novel, The Sandstone City, published with Aderyn Press in November 2022. She is also editor of Maggie O’ Farrell: Contemporary Critical Perspectives (Bloomsbury, 2024). In 2023, she was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales for leadership in public engagement and understanding