The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first published in the United States during a calendar year. The founder of the prize is Julie Lindsey, and the director is Larry Dark. He was previously series editor for the annual short story anthology Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards from 1997 to 2002.

The Story Prize generally receives as entries 100 to 120 short story collections each year. The Director and Founder together choose the three finalists. Three independent judges choose the winner from among those books. The judging group has a different composition every year and consists of a mix of writers, booksellers, readers, critics, teachers, publishers, and editors. One judge is always a fiction writer, a second judge is either a bookseller or librarian in alternating years, and the third is generally a critic or editor or someone else associated with the short story.[1]

Publishers, authors, or agents may enter a short story collection written in English by a living author and published in the U.S. during a calendar year. Three finalists are announced in January. These authors participate in an award event, typically in March, at which they read from their work and have an on-stage discussion with Dark. At the end of the event, Julie Lindsey announces the winner, who, in addition to the prize money, receives an engraved silver bowl. From 2006 to 2020 the event was at the New School in New York City (co-sponsored with the Creative Writing Department). In 2021, the event was recorded via Zoom, and it has since been held at The Lotos Club.[citation needed]

In March 2019, Catapult published The Story Prize: 15 Years of Great Short Fiction, an anthology celebrating the award's fifteenth anniversary.[2]

Recipients

Story Prize winners and finalists
YearAuthorTitleResult
2004Edwidge DanticatThe Dew BreakerWinner
Cathy DayThe Circus in WinterFinalist[3]
Joan SilberIdeas of Heaven
2005Patrick O'KeeffeThe Hill RoadWinner[4]
Jim HarrisonThe Summer He Didn't DieFinalist[4]
Maureen F. McHughMothers and Other Monsters
2006Mary GordonThe Stories of Mary GordonWinner
Rick BassThe Lives of RocksFinalist
George SaundersIn Persuasion Nation
2007Jim ShepardLike You'd Understand, AnywayWinner[5]
Tessa HadleySunstroke and Other StoriesFinalist[5]
Vincent LamBloodletting & Miraculous Cures
2008Tobias WolffOur Story BeginsWinner[6][7]
Jhumpa LahiriUnaccustomed EarthFinalist[6][7]
Joe MenoDemons in the Spring
2009Daniyal MueenuddinIn Other Rooms, Other WondersWinner[8][9]
Victoria PattersonDriftFinalist[8][9]
Wells TowerEverything Ravaged, Everything Burned
2010Anthony DoerrMemory WallWinner[10][11]
Yiyun LiGold Boy, Emerald GirlFinalist[10][12]
Suzanne RiveccaDeath Is Not an Option
2011Steven MillhauserWe OthersWinner[13][14]
Don DeLilloThe Angel EsmeraldaFinalist
Edith PearlmanBinocular Vision
2012Claire Vaye WatkinsBattlebornWinner[15]
Dan ChaonStay AwakeFinalist[15][16]
Junot DíazThis Is How You Lose Her
2013George SaundersTenth of DecemberWinner[17][18]
Andrea BarrettArchangelFinalist[18][19]
Rebecca LeeBobcat
2014Elizabeth McCrackenThunderstruckWinner[20][21]
Francesca MarcianoThe Other LanguageFinalist[20][21]
Lorrie MooreBark
2015Adam JohnsonFortune SmilesWinner[22]
Charles BaxterThere’s Something I Want You to DoFinalist[23][22]
Colum McCannThirteen Ways of Looking
2016Rick BassFor a Little WhileWinner[24][25]
Anna NoyesGoodnight, Beautiful WomenFinalist[24][25]
Helen Maryles ShankmanThey Were Like Family to Me (published in hardcover as In the Land of Armadillos)
2017Elizabeth StroutAnything Is PossibleWinner[26][27]
Daniel AlarcónThe King Is Always Above the PeopleFinalist[26][28]
Ottessa MoshfeghHomesick for Another World
2018Lauren GroffFloridaWinner[29]
Jamel BrinkleyA Lucky ManFinalist[29]
Deborah EisenbergYour Duck Is My Duck
2019Edwidge DanticatEverything InsideWinner[30][31]
Kali Fajardo-AnstineSabrina & CorinaFinalist[30][31]
Zadie SmithGrand Union
2020Deesha PhilyawThe Secret Lives of Church LadiesWinner[32][33]
Sarah Shun-lien BynumLikesFinalist[32][34]
Danielle EvansThe Office of Historical Corrections
2021Brandon TaylorFilthy AnimalsWinner[35][36]
Lily KingFive Tuesdays in WinterFinalist[37][36]
J. Robert LennonLet Me Think
2022Ling MaBliss MontageWinner[38][39]
Andrea BarrettNatural HistoryFinalist[39][40]
Morgan TaltyNight of the Living Rez
2024Paul YoonThe Hive and the HoneyWinner[41]
Yiyun LiWednesday's ChildFinalist[42][43]
Other Minds and Other Stories
2025Fiona McFarlaneHighway 13Winner[44][45]
Ruben Reyes Jr.There Is a Rio Grande in HeavenFinalist[45][46]
Jessi Jezewska StevensGhost Pains
2026André AlexisOther WorldsWinner[47][48]
Lydia MilletAtavistsFinalist[48][49]
Ayşegül SavaşLong Distance

The Story Prize Spotlight Award

This $1,000 award is given to a short story collection of exceptional merit, as selected by the Director of the Story Prize, from among all entrants. Winners of The Story Prize Spotlight Award might be promising works by first-time authors, collections in alternative formats, or works that demonstrate an unusual perspective on the writers’ craft.

YearWinnerWorkRef.
2012Krys LeeDrifting House
2013Ben StroudByzantium
2014Kyle MinorPraying Drunk
2015Adrian TomineKilling and Dying
2016Randa JarrarHim, Me, Muhammad Ali
2017Lee ConellSubcortical
2018Akil KumarasamyHalf Gods[50]
2019Ayşe Papatya BucakThe Trojan War Museum[51]
2020Asako SerizawaInheritors[52]
2021Adam ThompsonBorn into This[53]
2022Arinze IfeakanduGod's Children Are Little Broken Things[54]
2023SJ SinduThe Goth House Experiment[55]
2024Ben ShattuckThe History of Sound[56]
2025John HaskellTrying to Be

References

  1. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". The Story Prize. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  2. ^ "The Story Prize: 15 Years of Great Short Fiction ed. by Larry Dark (Pre-Order)". Catapult. Archived from the original on 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  3. ^ Lauren Mechling (January 19, 2005). "He Tells the Story Of the Story Prize". New York Sun. Archived October 19, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  4. ^ Sarah Crown (January 26, 2006). "O'Keeffe takes Hill Road to glory". The Guardian. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  5. ^ Jean Hartig (February 29, 2008). "Jim Shepard Wins Story Prize: Postcard From New York City". Poets & Writers. Archived April 2, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  6. ^ Michaud (March 4, 2009). "Tobias Wolff wins Story Prize for short fiction". Reuters. Archived March 15, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  7. ^ "Awards: Story Prize". Shelf Awareness. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  8. ^ Thessaly La Force (March 4, 2010). "Daniyal Mueenuddin Wins the Story Prize". New Yorker. Archived April 2, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
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  11. ^ "Anthony Doerr wins Short Story award". BBC. April 8, 2011. Archived December 6, 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  12. ^ "TSP: Anthony Doerr's Memory Wall Wins The Story Prize". The Story Prize. 2011-03-03. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  13. ^ Aparna Narayanan (March 26, 2012). "The Story Prize awards Steven Millhauser, honors Don DeLillo and Edith Pearlman". Capital New York. Archived April 2, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
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  16. ^ Carolyn Kellogg (January 16, 2013). "Congrats to the Story Prize finalists". Los Angeles Times. Archived August 23, 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
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  22. ^ "Adam Johnson wins $20,000 Story Prize for short fiction". Washington Post. Associated Press. March 2, 2016. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
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  25. ^ "Awards: Baileys Women's Fiction; Story Prize; Hayek Book". Shelf Awareness. 2017-03-09. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  26. ^ John McMurtrie (February 28, 2018). "Elizabeth Strout wins Story Prize for 'Anything Is Possible". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived March 2, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  27. ^ "Awards: Story Prize; U.K. Children's Book Finalists". Shelf Awareness. 2018-03-01. Archived April 4, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
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  29. ^ "Awards: Story Prize; Simpson Literary; Walter Scott Historical Fiction". Shelf Awareness. 2019-03-07. Archived April 18, 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-04-07.
  30. ^ "Author Edwidge Danticat wins $20,000 Story Prize". Associated Press. February 26, 2020. Archived February 28, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
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  53. ^ "TSP: Born into This by Adam Thompson is the Winner of the Story Prize Spotlight Award". 22 February 2022. Archived 22 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  54. ^ "TSP: God's Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu is the Winner of the Story Prize Spotlight Award". 7 February 2023. Archived 9 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  55. ^ "TSP: The Goth House Experiment by SJ Sindu is the Winner of the Story Prize Spotlight Award". 1 February 2024.
  56. ^ "TSP: The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck Is The Story Prize Spotlight Award Winner". 1 February 2024. Archived 3 February 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 February 2025.