GALLEY BEGGAR PRESS SHORT STORY PRIZE 2025/26
Ten questions with GBP Short Story Prize author Kate Ansell
HELLO KATE AND CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR GBP SHORT STORY PRIZE LONGLISTING FOR ‘FIRE! FIRE! OR, ASCENSION’. CAN YOU PLEASE INTRODUCE IT TO OUR READERS, IN TWO OR THREE SENTENCES?
Thank you. I’m thrilled, in a very uncool way. My story: a woman planning escape from her life gets stuck in a lift, goes feral, and takes it out on the health and safety man. With doodles
TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THE INITIAL INSPIRATION FOR ‘FIRE! FIRE! OR, ASCENSION.’ WHEN DID IT FIRST COME TO YOU – AND HOW DID YOU SET ABOUT WRITING IT?
Well. I like a short story with a clear precinct, they give things natural structure. And I like a lift. I’m a disabled woman, I can’t do stairs, I’m very aware of lifts, everywhere I go. They control my destiny more than I’d care to admit. For a while I’d been trying to write a story about someone stuck in one.
IN TERMS OF STYLE, ‘FIRE! FIRE! OR, ASCENSION’ HAS SOME DELIGHTFUL AND PLAYFUL ELEMENTS – THE DRAWINGS, THE SETTING (GETTING STUCK IN A LIFT), THE SOLUTION (THE ESCAPE), AND ALSO THAT IRREVERENT VOICE: THE DIRECTED FIRST-PERSON. CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THIS CHOICE OF VOICE, AND HOW OR WHY YOU CHOSE IT?
I was trying to write this lift story, but it was very dull, the tone was wrong. Then one day I was pissed off about something that had happened in my life. I drafted an email — the kind of email no one would ever actually send — a furious rant saying everything I actually thought about the situation but would never say to anyone’s face. I realised immediately that email was funnier and more interesting than anything I had written in a very long time, and that it would be superb if I transferred the tone to the lift story. So I did.
WHEN I READ IT, I THOUGHT OF ‘FIRE! FIRE! OR, ASCENSION’ AS A WAYWARD PICARESQUE WITH A SERIOUS UNDERCURRENT (THE NARRATOR IS ALSO FRAGILE, AND DISILLUSIONED) – DO YOU THINK THIS IS RIGHT?
Ha! Tristram Shandy but she’s in a lift? It’s interesting, I don’t think of her as fragile. The narrator is very aware of everyone else’s perception that she’s fragile, but I wouldn’t bet against her, she’s very self-reliant. But I agree there’s something risky in that, it’s all on a knife edge. She’s used to dealing with whatever situation presents itself to her, by herself. But she’s tired. It could go wrong.
OK! ON TO YOUR WRITING MORE GENERALLY. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING? DO YOU HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE?
Oh god, I’ve been writing forever, sometimes more, sometimes less. I did a creative writing MA when I was in my 20s, by Distance Learning, at Lancaster University, where I was tutored by the incomparable Sara Maitland, who cheerleaded me and encouraged me to try stuff. I had been writing a lot privately until that point, and wanted to cement it somehow. Until the Covid lockdowns, I would sometimes read at short story events in London. But I’ve always had other things in my life as well. About three or four years ago, I decided to make a proper commitment to writing again.
I do not have a daily routine, unless eating crisps and thinking I should be writing counts.
AND ARE YOU WORKING ON SOMETHING AT THE MOMENT?
I’m always writing a story, usually four at once. Don’t ask me what they’re about, I have no idea until I’ve finished.
WHAT’S THE BEST WRITING TIP YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED, AND WHAT’S THE WORST?
There’s a special place in hell for people who tell you to write longhand. I mean, write longhand if you want, it makes no difference to me. My dexterity is shit, no one can read my writing, it’s probably for the best it if I don’t.
By contrast, I was very happy the day I was introduced to Scrivener. And I’m writing this in the Notes app on my phone now. I know some people will be hissing at me. Do what works for you, ignore all the tips.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER WRITERS? CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT SOME AUTHORS YOU ADMIRE, AS WELL AS SOME THAT YOU ARE INFLUENCED BY?
I read Eva Luna by Isabel Allende when I was a teenager and was blown away by the craft, and by fiction as a force for social change and saying the unsayable. I am a Grace Paley superfan. And Edward Gorey, of course. I could also read Roxane Gay all day, Hunger is one of the most honest, beautiful things I have read.
HERE’S A SPOT TO NAMECHECK ANY OTHER FAVOURITE THINGS: ARTISTS, ARTS, FILMS, CINEMAS, TV, MUSIC… WHATEVER YOU LIKE.
Oh god, don’t let me do this, we’ll be here all day. My musical loves are Pulp and Kylie. When I was writing ‘Fire!’ Spotify made me a playlist which started with ‘Yes, And?’ by Ariana Grande, went via Chappell Roan and Taylor Swift and ended on Britney, so thanks to them. Of course I love Frida Kahlo. I went to Mexico a few years ago to pay homage and nearly fell down the stairs in her house, which would have been ironic. And I love the felt artist Lucy Sparrow with all my heart, she mixes humour and profoundity in brilliant ways. I have her giant felt Nurofen in my flat.
“THE HORROR OF THE BLANK PAGE.” DO YOU FEEL THAT HORROR? AND HOW WOULD YOU ADVISE OTHER WRITERS TO GET BEYOND IT?
I really don’t. The thing is, it’s an unmatchable feeling when writing is good, you feel like you could take on the world. But it doesn’t matter when it’s shit. No one dies. You just throw it away and write something else. At least, I am trying to convince myself of that.
KATE ANSELL is a writer and TV producer who lives in London. She used to live by the sea but doesn't anymore. You can probably tell.