Pin Drop Podcast: Stephen Fry reading Ms Featherstone and The Beast by Bethan Roberts

Listen to Stephen Fry narrate the winning story of the inaugural RA and Pin Drop Short Story Award, Ms. Featherstone and The Beast, an exceptional story by Bethan Roberts. The quality and volume of the entries was high. In such a competitive field, we needed a truly exceptional winner and our choice was unanimous. Bethan Robert’s evocative story , is both tender and poignant. It deals with big themes – love, war and loss of innocence – with a restrained lightness of touch. And, like all the best short stories, its impact lingered. “Pin Drop is a wonderfully innovative scheme that unites the written arts with the visual. In iconic venues like the Royal Academy, new and established writers have their works read, discussed and questioned by enthusiastic audiences. The presence of the written word in public spaces filled with visual art reminds writers, whose work is so often private and inward, of the capacity of literature to reach out, uniting it with the family of all the arts where it belongs. I really believe in Pindrop and felt immensely rewarded to be involved.” – Stephen Fry