ENCOUNTERS with various celebrities could help an author land a £10,000 prize thanks to her debut collection of short stories.

Emma Brankin swapped writing celebrity stories for the tabloids for teaching but used some of those “many, many run-ins with celebrities” to inspire Attention Seekers.

Now, the book, which was released in July last year, has made the longlist for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize.

Emma, who grew up in Dunbar, was delighted with the success.

She said: “In the literary circles, it is the biggest prize my book was eligible for.

“It is really exciting and very surreal.

“Tessa Hadley is on the longlist and that means she might have read my name now and maybe even glanced at the title of my book.

“The prize has been around for 18 years and I admire so many of the previous winners like Tessa Hadley and Saba Sams.”

READ MORE: Dunbar woman's celebrity run-ins inspire ‘quirky’ collection of tales

Founded in 2006 by Ailsa Cox, the world’s first professor of short fiction, the £10,000 prize remains the only national literary award to recognise excellence in a published, single-authored short story collection.

The competition celebrates both emerging and established writers.

Emma, who now lives in London with partner Jabiz, revealed that she had “always” loved writing and dreamed of being a writer.

Now, more than a year after Valley Press published Attention Seekers, the speech and drama teacher, 35, is well on her way to penning a full-length novel.

She said: “It has been a genuine particular dream to be considered for this prize but I did not even really want to articulate that in case I came across deluded.

“I did not even dare share that with anyone.

“I just thought there was no chance and I would embarrass myself to even suggest that it was a possibility – I didn’t think it was a possibility – so the moment the email came through was a a real jaw-drop-on-the-floor moment.”

A shortlist will be announced later this month, while the winner will be revealed in February.

A new £1,000 Debut Collection Award will also be presented to one of the shortlisted authors celebrating the best new voices in short-story writing.

Sarah Schofield, Edge Hill Short Story Prize organiser, said: “Short stories are the perfect vehicle to examine and explore both the small and vast complexities of being human.

“I love the way a short story can surprise, shock and delight, offering epiphanies into shared lived experiences.

“The collections on this longlist celebrate multiple perspectives from exciting new names and established authors.

“Shortlisting will be a difficult and wonderful task for our reading panel.”