When the three judges for The Story Prize make their choices, they provide citations for the books. This year's judges were Stephen Enniss, Antonya Nelson, and Rob Spillman. We include the citations in congratulatory letters we present to each finalist, along with their checks ($20,000 to the winner, $5,000 to the other two finalists). To protect the confidentiality of the judges' votes and the integrity of the process, we don't attribute citations to any particular judge.
Here's what the judges said about Andrea Barrett's Archangel:
“When a void seems to separate the humanities and the sciences, Andrea Barrett offers us stories of discovery that bridge this chasm and reunite these estranged dimensions of experience. These stories probe our innate curiosity about our world. The men and women of her stories pose questions, and in that boldness affirm the power of the creative mind in community with others. Even as scientific principles come into clearer view, fictive patterns emerge in Archangel, reminding us of the larger narrative of human advance and discovery that is both personal and communal. Andrea Barrett writes stories that bind.”