Anchor Books The O. Henry Prize Stories
About the Series Widely regarded as the nation's most prestigious awards for short fiction
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IN STORES THIS MAY:
The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009

Prize Jury: A. S. Byatt, Anthony Doerr, Tim O'Brien

A perennial classic now in partnership with PEN American Center

Featuring stories selected from thousands published in literary magazines, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009 is studded with great writers such as Junot Díaz, Nadine Gordimer, Ha Jin, and Paul Theroux, as well as new voices. The winning stories feature locales as diverse as post-war Vietnam, a retirement community in Cape Town, South Africa, an Egyptian desert village, and a permanently darkened New York City; the dizzying range of characters include a Russian mail-order bride in Finland, a rebellious Dominican girl in New Jersey, and a hallucinating British Gulf War veteran. The stories are accompanied by essays from the eminent jurors on their favorites, observations from the twenty winners on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines.

  • See the list of this year's winners.
  • Browse Author Spotlights for some of this year's winning and recommended authors.
  • Browse praise for The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009.
  • Read the New York Times ArtsBeat blog article.
  • Read the introduction.
  • View the Table of Contents.
  • Buy the book.

    More about:
  • Juror Favorites
  • How the Stories are Chosen
  • Submission Guidelines




  • 2009 Edition


    "An Ordinary Soldier of the Queen"
    Graham Joyce
    The Paris Review
    Chosen by: A. S. Byatt and Tim O'Brien

    "Wildwood"
    Junot Díaz
    The New Yorker
    Chosen by: Anthony Doerr

    More...




    Throughout the year, magazine editors submit their issues to The O. Henry Prize Stories series editor, Laura Furman. The stories must be published in Canada or the United States, and originally written in English. Novel excerpts and works in translation are not considered.

    From the multitude of stories submitted, the editor chooses twenty winners that stand out above the rest and up to fifteen additional pieces highlighted in the collection as the list of recommended stories. Each juror then reads the twenty winning stories in manuscript form, without knowledge of author names or publications. Without consulting one another, they each select their favorite and write a short essay about what led them to their choice.

    More about . . .



    Publisher's Note:
    Due to a publishing error, the story "Scenes from the Life of the Only Girl in Water Shield, Alaska" by Tony Tulathimutte was not printed in its most recent version in The O. Henry Prize Stories 2008. Click here to read the correct version in its entirety.