We’re delighted to announce that our wonderful judge Rebecca Makkai has selected the winner of The Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize. We received many terrific submissions—thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your work!
Winner: “Visitors” by Rachel Vogel
Judge’s Citation
“This story made me tremendously nervous, which is about the highest compliment I can give: It made me care, unsettled me, and had me holding my breath. Looking back on the actual events of the story, they’re somewhat commonplace—the kind of day-gone-awry someone might toss off as an anecdote—and the fact that this author has wound them so tight and found such depth in them is a feat. So is the seeming effortlessness of the telling.”
RACHEL VOGEL’s work has appeared in Harvard Review, Narrative Magazine, Potomac Review, Quarterly West, and other publications. Her creative nonfiction short “Cutting” was made into a literary video. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles, where she lives. She has practiced law and raised three children.
Our deepest thanks to Rebecca Makkai 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 Rachel! Look out for the winning story in an upcoming issue of American Short Fiction!