Little Lands by Lucy Caldwell

Available for over a year

Read by Anne-Marie Duff, ‘Little Lands’ by Lucy Caldwell is the second story up for this year's BBC National Short Story Award with the University of Cambridge in its 21st year. This beautifully written story centres on a single scene from one of cinema's most iconic films. Reflecting on the famous dance scene in 'The Sound of Music', this story is a meditation on how the sharing of everyday pleasures can be transformed into precious memories to be recalled and passed on. Lucy Caldwell was born in Belfast and is the author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas, and four collections of short stories: 'Multitudes', 'Intimacies', 'Openings', and most recently, 'Devotions'. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018, she was the editor of 'Being Various: New Irish Short Stories' in 2019. She won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2021 for ‘All the People Were Mean and Bad’. Other awards include the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, the George Devine Award, the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Walter Scott Prize, and the 2022 E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. She runs a popular online masterclass on the short story for the Faber Academy. The annual BBC National Short Story Award with the University of Cambridge celebrates its 21st anniversary in 2026 with a shortlist of five short stories by multi-award-winning writers and astonishing new talent from across the United Kingdom. Set in locations across the globe, from the Australian bush to Galway Bay, this year’s tender and vivid stories explore the value of human connection across generations and through friendship in a fractured world. Marking the awards is Di Speirs, who has judged the BBC National Short Story Award since its launch. She will be joined on the judging panel by 2022 NSSA winner Saba Sams and two former NSSA shortlistees, Tahmima Anam (2016) and Will Eaves (2017), and Costa Best First Novel Award winner, Andrew Micheal Hurley. The BBC National Short Story Award with the University of Cambridge was established to raise the profile of the short form and this year’s all-female shortlist join an impressive list of alumni. From 14th to 18th September, all five of the shortlisted stories can be heard at 15:30 each afternoon on Radio 4. The winner of the 21st BBC National Short Story Award with the University of Cambridge will be announced live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row at 19:15 on Tuesday 29th September 2026. Reader: Anne-Marie Duff Writer: Lucy Caldwell Abridged and produced by Elizabeth Allard Image credit: 'THE SOUND OF MUSIC' ©1965 20th Century Studios, Inc. All rights reserved.