We are delighted to announce that our brilliant judge, R.O. Kwon, has selected the winners of this year’s The Halifax Ranch Fiction Prize. We consider it our privilege to have spent time with so many terrific submissions—thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your work!
Winner: Caroline Schmidt for “Particular Luck”
Of Schmidt’s story, Kwon writes, “I was especially moved by the physicality of grief in “Particular Luck,” its knowledge of how we are tied, in joy as in sorrow, to the material world. I loved this story’s precision and depth.”
CAROLINE SCHMIDT is a fictionist, poet, and recent graduate of the Rutgers University-Newark MFA program, where she studied fiction and taught undergraduate creative writing. She has received awards and fellowships from the Beinecke Foundation, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Stadler Center for Poetry. Her work is published or forthcoming in Pigeon Pages and Colorado Review.
Runner-up: Abby Horowitz “Mothers in the World Above and Below”
Of Horowitz’s story, Kwon writes, “‘Mothers in the World Above and Below’ delighted me with its imaginative range. A strange, exhilarating story. ”
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Our deepest thanks to R.O. Kwon for judging, to The Burdine Johnson Foundation and The Tasajillo Residency 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 the upcoming issue of American Short Fiction!