Lisa Smith won the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize for "Auld Lang Syne," which is "about an elderly man behind bars on New Year's Eve" and "takes a subtle and sly look at ageing and masculinity." Smith receives £1,000 (about $1,295) and a workshop with 4th Estate editorial, publicity and marketing teams.
Prize judge Sian Cain said the winning tale was "a perfect example of what the short story can do when the form is at its best: containing as much of an emotional blow as that of a 800-page novel, regardless of its brevity."