Please note that this event has passed. Please visit our Stars at Night page for information about this year’s event.
Each fall, the editors and staff of American Short Fiction host a grand celebration that recognizes literary excellence, extraordinary literary service, great teaching and mentorship, and a debut writer from Texas.
The Stars at Night is our favorite event of the year because it’s intimate, celebratory, community-fueled, and inspiring. It’s the most down-home, sophisticated literary spectacular on the map.
ASF’s fifth annual showcase goes virtual this year on November 30, 2020, with a stellar program line-up of acclaimed authors, debuts, and community leaders in conversation about how we can stay connected in this time of distance through a shared love of literature.
The Stars at Night 2020 Honorees
Jamaica Kincaid was born in St. John’s, Antigua. Her books include At the Bottom of the River, Annie John, Lucy, The Autobiography of My Mother, and My Brother. She lives in North Bennington, Vermont, during the summers, and is Professor of African and African American Studies in Residence at Harvard University during the academic year. Her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Lannan Literary Award, American Book Award, and many others.
C Pam Zhang is the author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize and is being translated into thirteen languages. Her writing has appeared in American Short Fiction, The Cut, McSweeney’s Quarterly, The New Yorker, and The Pushcart Prize Anthology. In 2020, she was named a 5 Under 35 honoree by the National Book Foundation. Born in Beijing, Zhang is mostly an artifact of the United States.
Charlotte Gullick is a novelist, essayist, editor, educator, and Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College. In May 2016, she graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts with an MFA in Creative Nonfiction. Charlotte’s first novel, By Way of Water, was published by Blue Hen Books/Penguin Putnam, and her nonfiction has appeared in The Rumpus, Brevity, The Best of Brevity, Dogwood, Pembroke Magazine, Barnstorm Journal, Full Grown People, Pithead Chapel, and the LA Review. Her other awards include a Christopher Isherwood Fellowship for Fiction, a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship for Poetry, a MacDowell Colony Residency, a Ragdale Residency, as well as the Evergreen State College 2012 Teacher Excellence Award.
Selena Anderson was born in Houston and raised in Pearland. She completed her B.A. at the University of Texas at Austin and Ph.D. at the University of Houston. Her stories have appeared in Oxford American, BOMB, Conjunctions, The Baffler, and Fence and will be reprinted in Best American Short Stories 2020 and Tiny Nightmares. She has received fellowships from the Kimbilio Center, the MacDowell Colony, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and is a recipient of the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. Anderson is an assistant professor at San José State University, where she also directs a reading series. She is working on a novel.
All proceeds will support American Short Fiction, a nonprofit literary publisher of the best voices in contemporary short fiction.
This year, ticket holders will also have the opportunity to participate in The Constellation Challenge, a socially distanced, collaborative writing project featuring a set of 28 exclusive postcards designed by artist Benedict Kupstas, writing prompts from our favorite established and emerging writers, and the opportunity to engage with your own constellations of friends and loved ones.
International shipping not available at this time.
• 1 ticket to The Stars at Night
NOTE: This ticket level price is a suggested donation amount.
$50 THE LITTLE DIPPER | SOLD OUT!
• 1 ticket to The Stars at Night
• A set of 28 limited-edition postcards, participation in The Constellation Challenge, with exclusive writing and prompts from established and emerging authors
$100 THE SHOOTING STAR | SOLD OUT!
• 1 ticket to The Stars at Night
• A set of 28 limited-edition postcards, participation in The Constellation Challenge, with exclusive writing and prompts from established and emerging authors
• 1 event box with:
‣ A glow-in-the-dark star handkerchief
‣ A Texas-inspired “Stargazer” cocktail kit with a secret recipe by literary bartender Brian Bartels, author of the newly published The United States of Cocktails
$250 THE BIG DIPPER | SOLD OUT!
• 2 tickets to The Stars at Night
• A set of 28 limited-edition postcards, participation in The Constellation Challenge, with exclusive writing and prompts from established and emerging authors
• Acknowledgment in benefit program at The Stars at Night
• Acknowledgment for one year as a supporter in the print magazine
• 1 event box with:
‣ A glow-in-the-dark star handkerchief
‣ A Texas-inspired “Stargazer” cocktail kit with a secret recipe by literary bartender Brian Bartels, author of the newly published The United States of Cocktails
‣ A signed copy of C Pam Zhang’s award-winning novel How Much of These Hills Is Gold
‣ A limited-edition event poster of The Stars at Night 2020 designed by artist Benedict Kupstas
A registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization, American Short Fiction relies on the generous support of individuals, foundations, and corporations to support and promote the literary arts in Texas and beyond. If you or your organization is interested in helping us further our mission of finding, publishing, and promoting today’s best writers and writing, you can download our sponsorship package here.
For more information about sponsorships, please contact us by email at amanda.faraone[at]americanshortfiction.org.