We are delighted to announce that our wonderful judge ZZ Packer has selected the winners of the inaugural Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize. We received many terrific submissions—thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your work!
Winner: Alejandro Puyana for “The Hands of Dirty Children”
Of Puyana’s story, Packer writes, “Full of energy, beauty, pathos and an unswerving eye for vivid detail, “The Hands of Dirty Children” is a touching and gut-wrenching glimpse of Venezuela through the eyes of a starving band of street kids who have nothing in the world but each other. This story was so deeply affecting that I thought about it long after I put it down.”
ALEJANDRO PUYANA is a Venezuelan exile writing out of Austin, Texas. His work has appeared on Tin House Open Bar, Huizache, The Toast, The Huffington Post, NPR’s The Salt and has been adapted for radio by NPR’s The Texas Standard. He’s currently working on a novel titled Freedom Is a Feast set in Venezuela. Tweet to @Puyana.
Runner-up: Rachel Kondo for “Mother-Aunt of the Trust Territory”
“‘Mother-Aunt of the Trust Territory,'” writes Packer, “the story of a Micronesian woman navigating life with her nephew, is a masterclass in revealing secrets, identities, and life-changing events bit-by-bit in a way that is organic, moving, and always essential.”
RACHEL KONDO was born and raised on Maui. Her most recent writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Electric Literature, Ploughshares Solos, and Indiana Review. A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers, she now lives in Los Angeles.
Our deepest thanks to ZZ Packer for judging, to The Burdine Johnson Foundation for their generous support of this contest, and to all of you for submitting your stories. And congrats to the winners! Look out for the winning story in an upcoming issue of American Short Fiction!