We are thrilled to announce the winners for this year’s American Short(er) Fiction Prize, judged by Deb Olin Unferth. Thank you to everyone who submitted—reading your work during this time has been a bright spot for us. Congratulations to the winners!
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First-Place Prize:
“Ricky” by Whitney Collins
Judge Deb Olin Unferth writes, “Hilarious, rageful, sorrowful, and yet somehow adorable, this satiric story is full of energy and personality to spare.” “Ricky” will be published in an upcoming edition of the magazine.
Whitney Collins received a 2020 Pushcart Prize and a 2020 Pushcart Special Mention. Her work is forthcoming in Catapult’s Tiny Nightmares, and her short story collection Big Bad, winner of the 2019 Mary McCarthy Prize, will be published by Sarabande in 2021. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Slice, New Ohio Review, Ninth Letter, Southeast Review, Grist, The Pinch, Chattahoochee Review, and Quarter After Eight, among others. She lives in Kentucky with her family.
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Second-Place Prize:
“Karst” by Ben Jackson
“What if I missed something big, huge, about a person I love? In the smallest space, in the smallest voice, this story asks,” writes Unferth. “Karst” will be published as a fiction exclusive on our website in the coming months.
Ben Jackson’s writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, West Branch, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Awl, among others. He received an MFA in fiction from Boston University, and he’s working on his first novel, set in California and in Ireland, where he grew up. www.bhjackson.com
Deb Olin Unferth is the author of six books, including Barn 8 (Graywolf Press, 2020), Wait Till You See Me Dance, Minor Robberies, and Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, three Pushcart Prizes, and was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. Her work has appeared in Granta, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, and the Paris Review.
Congratulations to the winners, and many thanks to Deb Olin Unferth!
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While our Short(er) Fiction contest is now closed, The Halifax Ranch Prize contest is currently accepting submissions and will be judged by acclaimed author Manuel Gonzales. The deadline for submission is June 1, 2020. Click here for more information on how to submit your work.
