A few weeks ago, we typed the name “Eva Shelton” into the website of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, looking for an address so that we could send her some exciting news: she’d won The Insider Prize for fiction. Sponsored by American Short Fiction and now in its fourth year, the prize highlights work by incarcerated writers in Texas, whether they live in state or federal prisons, local jails, or immigration detention centers. This time around the guest judge was Mitchell S. Jackson—who … [Read more...] about Announcing the 2021 Winners of The Insider Prize, Selected by Mitchell S. Jackson
prison
The 2019 Insider Prize, Fiction Honoree: “Mother’s Son” by F.R. Martinez, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates has a long history with prisons—she’s sprinkled them throughout her stories, tweeted about their poor conditions, and edited a collection of stories by incarcerated men and women. At least one of her novels is banned in some facilities. So she was the perfect judge for American Short Fiction’s 2019 Insider Prize, our contest for incarcerated writers. In the fiction category, she selected “Mother’s Son” by F.R. Martinez, calling it “intense, lyrical, nostalgic — a kind of prose … [Read more...] about The 2019 Insider Prize, Fiction Honoree: “Mother’s Son” by F.R. Martinez, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates
The 2019 Insider Prize, Memoir Honoree: “Bucknaked Gurney Unit” by Kevin Murphy, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates has a long history with prisons—she’s sprinkled them throughout her stories, tweeted about their poor conditions, and edited a collection of stories by incarcerated men and women. At least one of her novels is banned in some facilities. So she was the perfect judge for American Short Fiction’s 2019 Insider Prize, our contest for incarcerated writers. In the memoir category, she selected “Bucknaked Gurney Unit,” by Kevin Murphy, writing that his “memoir of humiliation and the … [Read more...] about The 2019 Insider Prize, Memoir Honoree: “Bucknaked Gurney Unit” by Kevin Murphy, Selected by Joyce Carol Oates
The Statue of Limitations
They install the statue in our backyard, so we know how far we are allowed to roam without risk of pursuit. They plant it along the tree line, wielding chisels and pulleys. We watch from the window, the two of us, his hand on my shoulder. If you want me to explain the height of the statue, there's the fact that my husband can stand under it for a bit of shade, and as you know, he's quite tall. When I stand directly behind the statue, I disappear, and I'm quite wide these days. We build … [Read more...] about The Statue of Limitations