O. Henry Award

The O. Henry Award is given for especially good short stories. The prize is given each year. The award is named after the American short story author, O. Henry.

The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories is a book that is published each year with that year's twenty best stories from magazines in U.S. and Canadian, written in English.

The award itself is called The O. Henry Award,[1] not the O. Henry Prize, though until recently there were first, second and third prize winners.

History and format

The award was first given in 1919. Money to support the award comes from the Society of Arts and Sciences.[1][2] As of 2003, the series editor chooses twenty short stories and each one is called an O. Henry Prize Story. All stories originally written in English and published in an American or Canadian magazine can possibly win. Three people become jurors each year. The jurors get the twenty prize stories in text form. The author or publication name are not listed. Each juror works alone and chooses one special short story and comments on it.

The goal of The O. Henry Prize Stories is to improve the art of the short story. Starting in 2003, The O. Henry Prize Stories is dedicated to a writer who has made a major contribution to the art of the short story. The O. Henry Prize Stories 2007 was dedicated to Sherwood Anderson, a U.S. short-story writer. Jurors for 2007 were Charles D'Ambrosio, Lily Tuck, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Laura Furman is now the series editor for The O. Henry Prize Stories.

Partnership with PEN American Center

In 2009 Anchor books announced a change in the series tittle. Anchor is the publisher of The O. Henry Prize Stories. They worked with the PEN American Center and renamed the series the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories collection. Profits from selling The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009 books went to PEN's Readers & Writers Program. This program sends well-known authors to under served inner-city schools.

In an interview for the Vintage Books and Anchor Books blog, editor Laura Furman called working with PEN a "natural partnership." [3]

Juror favorites, first-prize winners

For more information or complete lists of yearly winners, visit The O. Henry Prize Stories website.[4]


2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
  • Mary Swan: "The Deep” in The Malahat Review, No. 131
2000
1999
  • Peter Baida: "A Nurse's Story” in The Gettysburg Review, Vol. 13, No. 3
1998
  • Lorrie Moore: "People Like That Are the Only People Here” in The New Yorker, January 27, 1997
1997
1996
  • Stephen King: "The Man in the Black Suit” in The New Yorker, October 31, 1994
1995
1994
1993
  • Thom Jones: "The Pugilist at Rest” in The New Yorker, December 2, 1991
1992
  • Cynthia Ozick: "Puttermesser Paired” in The New Yorker, October 8, 1990
1991
  • John Updike: "A Sandstone Farmhouse” in The New Yorker, June 11, 1990
1990
  • Leo E. Litwak: "The Eleventh Edition” in TriQuarterly, No. 74, Winter 1989
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984
  • Cynthia Ozick: "Rosa” in The New Yorker, March 21, 1983
  • Gordon Lish: "For Jeromé—with Love and Kisses" in "The Antioch Review", Summer 1983, 1984
1983
1982
1981
1980
  • Saul Bellow: "A Silver Dish” in The New Yorker, September 25, 1978
1979
1978
  • Woody Allen: "The Kugelmass Episode” in The New Yorker, May 2, 1977
1977
1976
  • Harold Brodkey: "His Son in His Arms, in Light, Aloft” in Esquire, August 1975
1975
  • Harold Brodkey: "A Story in an Almost Classical Mode” in The New Yorker, September 17, 1973
  • Cynthia Ozick: "Usurpation (Other People's Stories)” in Esquire, May 1974
1974
  • Renata Adler: "Brownstone” in The New Yorker, January 27, 1973
1973
1972
  • John Batki: "Strange-Dreaming Charlie, Cow-Eyed Charlie” in The New Yorker, March 20, 1971
1971
1970
  • Robert Hemenway: "The Girl Who Sang with the Beatles” in The New Yorker, January 11, 1969
1969
1968
  • Eudora Welty: "The Demonstrators” in The New Yorker, November 26, 1966
1967
1966
  • John Updike: "The Bulgarian Poetess” in The New Yorker, March 13, 1965
1965
1964
  • John Cheever: "The Embarkment for Cythera” in The New Yorker, November 3, 1962
1963
1962
1961
  • Tillie Olsen: "Tell Me a Riddle” in New World Writing, No. 16
1960
1959
1958
1957
1956
1955
1954
1951
1950
1949
1948
1947
1946
1945
1944
1943
1942
1941
1940
1939
1938
  • Albert Maltz: "The Happiest Man on Earth” in Harper's Magazine
1937
1936
1935
  • Kay Boyle: "The White Horses of Vienna” in Harper's Magazine
1934
  • Louis Paul: "No More Trouble for Jedwick” in Esquire
1933
1932
1931
1930
1929
1928
1927
1926
1925
1924
1923
1922
1921
  • Edison Marshall: "The Heart of Little Shikara” in Everybody's Magazine, January 1921
1920
1919

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Bold Type: O. Henry Award FAQ
  2. Kunitz, Stanley J.; Howard Haycraft (1942). Twentieth Century Authors. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company.
  3. "Two Literary Lions Merge", "Vintage Books", 2009-04-10.
  4. The O. Henry Prize Stories website
  5. "Penguin Random House".

Other websites