The BBC National Short Story Award is a major annual award designed to honour Britain's finest short story writers and to re-establish the importance of the short story as a central literary form. The award is funded by the BBC and supported by Booktrust and Scottish Book Trust. The panel of judges includes the writers Penelope Lively and Naomi Alderman, executive producer of readings for Radio 4 Di Speirs, broadcaster Martha Kearney and journalist Alexander Linklater.