The Story Prize, now in its 17th year, is pleased to honor as its finalists three outstanding short story collections chosen from 121 submissions representing 89 different publishers or imprints. They are*:
- Likes by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
- The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans (Riverhead Books)
- The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw (West Virginia University Press)
We will announce the winner on the evening of Wednesday, March 10, at which time The Story Prize will post a video including readings by and interviews with finalists Bynum, Evans, and Philyaw, as well as the announcement of the winner and acceptance of the $20,000 top prize and the engraved silver bowl that goes with it. The runners-up will each receive $5,000.
Story Prize Founder Julie Lindsey and Director Larry Dark selected the finalists. Three independent judges will determine the winner:
- Writer and Critic Ismail Muhammad,
- Independent Bookseller Margot Sage-EL, and
- Author Karen Shepard
In the weeks ahead, we'll announce this year's winner of The Story Prize Spotlight Award. We'll also publish a long list of other exceptional collections we read last year, and more information about the video we'll be posting in lieu of a live event.
* Links for book titles are to Bookshop.org. Links for author names are to guest Instagram posts.
