2024-09-16
51 分钟Katie Thistleton presents a showcase of the five shortlisted stories for this year's BBC Young Writers' Award. Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the BBC Young Writers’ Award with Cambridge University is open to all writers between the ages of 14 –18 and was created to discover and inspire the next generation of writers. It is a cross-network collaboration between BBC Radio 4 and Radio 1. The winner receives a personalised mentoring session with an author to enhance their writing skills. The 2024 BBC Young Writers’ Award shortlist with Cambridge University is: ‘A Human, a Robot and a Gosling Walk into a Post-Apocalyptic Bar’ by Basmala Alkhalaf ‘The Quiet’ by Amaan Foyez ‘Special’ by Lulu Frisson ‘Confession’ by Vivienne Hall ‘Nathalie’s Flatmate’ by Aidan Vogelzang Podcast produced by Rick Woska
Hello, I'm Katie Thistleton and I'm the chair of judges for the 2024 BBC Young Writers Award with Cambridge University.
This year we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of the award and I'm absolutely thrilled to be presenting you with this year's shortlist, which comes from five amazing writers from all across the UK with story themes including neurodiversity, AI, human desire, jealousy and the power of silence.
In the first of our shortlisted stories, an experiment with Goslings leaves an artificially intelligent robot with a decision to make.
A human, a robot and a gosling walk into a post apocalyptic bar is written by Basmola Alcalaf.
It's too sunny a day to be holding a funeral, the human duly remarked as they watched the surroundings with a careful eye.
There was barely any wind, but the day was humid and the sun beat down like a hammer on hot iron.
The robot continued to dig without an answer.
External conditions do not matter.
Its voice was not its own, but rather its creator's mother, who sang like the angels of the heavens.
Still, the human said, shrugging.
It's a goose.
I'd get it if it were rainy or whatever that might screw with your hardware.
The robot could take no offense.
The human, with hair bright as a fox's fur, stared at the goose with a certain gaze.
The robot would have wrinkled its nose if it had one.
Yes, but it is still a living being.
It deserves a proper burial so that the soul may enter heaven.
The robot picked up the lifeless body, which seemed heavier than before, and gently laid it in the three foot deep grave.
Oh, dude, what sort of religious preacher programmed you?
The human asked, sighing deeply as they watched the robot place the goose's body in the dirt.