What the Judges had to say about the winner of The Story Prize, OTHER WORLDS by André Alexis

photo © Nathalie Schueller

When the three judges for The Story Prize make their choices, they write citations for their top choices. This year's judges were writer and copyeditor Benjamin Dreyer, writer and past winner of The Story Prize Ling Ma, and librarian Stephen Sposato. 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 had to say about winner Other Worlds by André Alexis.

“Other Worlds so seamlessly traverses the boundaries of time, of nationality, and of genre that such boundaries seem diaphanous. This fleet-footed collection is both rooted in oral and literary traditions and yet entirely contemporary. Being many things at once, full of sly innovations, and quietly upending of conventions, Other Worlds is wholly original and wholly itself. It is also very funny.” 

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“The stories in André Alexis’s Other Worlds are enthralling in their variety (of geographical setting, of period, of theme; some profoundly intimate, others wide-ranging) and elegance, haunting and haunted, often mystically—indeed and as promised in the collection's title—otherworldly and yet very much grounded in our own actual, solid world. Some of the stories focus with great precision on issues of class, race, and culture; all of them aim for and achieve a humane universality. And for those of us who thrive on plot, suspense, and surprise, those are all in abundance here as well. 

“I began reading each story—of a young woman's chance encounter with a fabled painter whose connection to her own history might be of even more paramount importance than she suspects; of a writer who takes on a job as a kind of custodian to a mystifyingly unnerving town; of, even, a talking horse (this one nearly broke me)—thinking ‘I can't imagine where this is going to go’ and then following along delightedly (though often anxiously, in the best possible way) as Alexis confidently guided me. 

“I particularly enjoyed this collection on a sentence by sentence basis: There's a kind of gossamer lightness to Alexis's prose, a seeming effortlessness, but as I reread passages, which I found myself doing frequently, I appreciated all the more the erudition and the gorgeous construction.”

What The Story Prize judges had to say about LONG DISTANCE by finalist Ayşegül Savaş

Photo © Nathalie Schueller

When the three judges for The Story Prize vote for the winner of the award, they write citations for their top choices. This year's judges were writer and copyeditor Benjamin Dreyer, writer and past winner of The Story Prize Ling Ma, and Chicago librarian Stephen Sposato. 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 had to say about Long Distance by finalist Ayşegül Savaş: 

“Across thirteen subtle and captivating stories, Long Distance masterfully explores the dislocations and disruptions of the modern world, from the macro level of war and immigration to the intimate twists and shadows of the human heart. Savaş patiently tests her characters, probing their relationships to friends, family, lovers, colleagues, hosts, servants, and strangers alike, revealing the initial moments of cultural and moral fissure that crack open between them. Empathetic and clear-eyed, these masterful, gracefully written stories portray characters grappling with the unexpected decisions that will define their lives.” 

What The Story Prize judges had to say about ATAVISTS by finalist Lydia Millet

Photo © Nathalie Schueller

When the three judges for The Story Prize vote for the winner of the award, they write citations for their top choices. This year's judges were writer and copyeditor Benjamin Dreyer, writer and past winner of The Story Prize Ling Ma, and Chicago librarian Stephen Sposato. 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 had to say about Atavists by Story Prize finalist Lydia Millet:  

“Atavists is brilliantly constructed, with stories that not only intricately connect a web of common characters but also advance a satisfying chronological narrative. With great skill, Millet both pokes fun at her characters and evokes tender feelings toward them, revealing the essential truth that we are as much defined by our flaws—and our acceptance of the flaws of those around us—as by our aspirations and accomplishments. Even the titles are clever, each reflecting an ‘ism’ specific to the point-of-view character. Though the deftly written stories in Atavists are humorous in tone, they also explore serious contemporary issues, without shrinking away from the ominous, near certain repercussions in the not-too-distant future. And yet, the final, well-earned ism remains a hopeful one.”

The 22nd Winner of The Story Prize is OTHER WORLDS by André Alexis!

Photo © Nathalie Scheuller

The winner of The Story Prize for books published in 2025 is André Alexis for Other Worlds (FSG Originals). The other finalists were Lydia Millet for Atavists (W.W. Norton & Company) and Ayşegül Savaş for Long Distance (Bloomsbury Publishing). The Story Prize’s $20,000 top prize is among the largest first-prize amounts of any annual U.S. book award for fiction. As runners-up, Millet and Savaş each received $5,000. 

Other Worlds is is Alexis’s second short story collection. Among his other publications are the five novels of his Quincunx series, published by Coach House Books in Toronto. He has also won Canada’s Giller Prize and Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and is the recipient of the Windham-Campbell prize in fiction. 

Director Larry Dark and Founder Julie Lindsey selected the three finalists for The Story Prize, now in its 22nd year, from among 114 short story collections published in 2025, representing 72 different publishers or imprints. Three judges—writer and copyeditor Benjamin Dreyer; writer and past Story Prize winner Ling Ma, and Chicago librarian Stephen Sposato—determined the winner from among the three books chosen as finalists.