Video of The Story Prize Event: Edwidge Danticat (winner), Kali Fajardo-Anstine, and Zadie Smith

Here's the video of The Story Prize event, featuring the three finalists—Edwidge Danticat (the winner), Kali Fajardo-Anstine, and Zadie Smith—reading from and discussing their work:

What The Story Prize Judges Had to Say About Finalist Grand Union by Zadie Smith

Photo © Beowulf Sheehan

When the three judges for The Story Prize make their choices, they provide citations for the books. This year's judges were writer and librarian Kristen Arnett, publisher Andy Hunter, and writer Tiphanie Yanique. 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 Grand Union by Zadie Smith:

“In 1964, the artist Jasper Johns wrote a note to himself: ‘Take an object / Do something to it / Do something else to it.’ Instructions for artmaking, they resonate for story-making as well. ‘Tell a story. Do something to it. Do something else to it.’ All writers tell a story. The good ones do something to it: tell it in a way we haven’t heard before, give it a fresh truth. The great ones then do something else to it. Zadie Smith is a great one; the ‘something else’ she does to her stories is skin them with a flick of a knife, revealing everything—every muscle, nerve, twitch and throb of life. Just when you think you know where she’s leading you, she zooms out, opening up the narrative to ambiguity and multiple truths. These stories demonstrate her supreme awareness—self-awareness, yes, but also acute and wise awareness of others, and awareness of ‘the whole game, from top to bottom.’”

The 2019/20 Finalists for The Story Prize Are: Edwidge Danticat, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, and Zadie Smith

We're pleased to announce as this year's finalists for The Story Prize three outstanding short story collections chosen from 94 submissions representing 72 different publishers or imprints.  Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat (Alfred A. Knopf) Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (One World) Grand Union by Zadie Smith (Penguin Press) The winner will be announced at The Story Prize's annual award event at the New School's Auditorium at 66 West 12th Street in New York City at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 26. Tickets to the event are $14, which goes toward supporting The Story Prize and literary programs at The New School. That night, finalists Danticat, Fajardo-Anstine, and Smith will read from and discuss their work on-stage. After which we will announce the winner and present that author with $20,000 and an engraved silver bowl. The two runners-up will each receive $5,000.The Story Prize is co-sponsored by the Graduate Writing Program at The New School.  Story Prize Founder Julie Lindsey and Director Larry Dark selected the finalists. Three independent judges will determine the winner: Author and librarian Kristen Arnett. Founder of ElectricLiterature, the Literary Hub, and Catapult--and publisher of Catapult, Counterpoint, Black Balloon, and Softskull Books--Andy Hunter. Author Tiphanie Yanique. 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.