Winner: The Story Prize for a Short Story Fiction Collection

Tragic dips into short story collections between the main course of whatever novel or non-fiction book he is reading at the time - they serve as an entree, desert or even late night snack. The joy of a quality short story collection is that it can also provide a much needed literary top-up when time is pressing. A current read is David Malouf's, The Complete Stories, the inaugural, and possibly last winner, of the ill-starred au$110,000 Australia-Asia Literary Award. Fine book.

A writer has to be at the top of their narrative powers to engage and satisfy the reader in the 'sprint' class of literature. Fortunately, there are a number of prestigious literary prizes for short story collections that can help us identify the cream of the crop. Amongst these is the US- based Story Prize.

The Story is an annual book award honouring the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a US$20,000 cash award Each of two runners-up receives US$5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first published in the United States during a calendar year.

The 2008 winner has just been named with the major prize going to Our Story Begins by Tobias Wolff (Alfred A. Knopf). The first part of this collection includes 16 stories from three previous collections, several of which have, apparently, already attained the status of classics (not sure as defined by whom). According to the blurb, the 'final ten stories, newly published in book form, show a writer who continues to work at the peak of his powers, capable of honestly, unflinchingly, and eloquently portraying characters’ struggles with essential truths about themselves'. High praise indeed.

The author, Tobias Wolff lives in Northern California and teaches at Stanford University. He is the author of three previous story collections (In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, Back in the World, and The Night in Question) a novella (The Barracks Thief), a novel (Old School), and two memoirs (This Boy’s Life and In Pharaoh’s Army). Prof T. is no stranger to Literary Award World. Amongst honours already gleaned are the PEN/Malamud Award and the Rea Award, both for excellence in the short story,a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Impressive. Finalists The other two finalists also sound most intriguing. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Alfred A. Knopf) contains eight stories concerning characters in flux, both literally and emotionally, living in places they can’t quite call home. Demons in the Spring by Joe Meno (Akashic Books) offers 20 stories evoking a different and surprising world, where, victims held at gunpoint fall in love with their captors, freed zoo animals roam the streets, a wife turns into a cloud whenever her husband makes a romantic overture, miniature elephants become prized and acutely sensitive pets, and a tiny city grows inside a woman like a cancer. Like the sound of both collections very much. Must make sure that Mrs. T gets to read the story about a wife turns into a cloud whenever her husband makes a romantic overture and let's hope that the tiny city growing within has plenty of bicycle tracks. Tragic has put-up a page to help spread the word about the Story Prize beyond US shores at Book Awards Online and added to the ever growing list of A- Grade Literary Prizes. The Prize itself publishes a neat Story Book Prize Blogspot and an appropriately simple and informative Award website to which a visit is recommended for in-depth comments etc. Tragic also understands that the Award has began to Twitter- (or is it to twit?) one of those new verbs for the 21st century. Surrounded, as he is, by a large family, Tragic feels that he is subjected to a sufficiency of Twittering. He hasn't taken the plunge into the village square in cyberspace that is the Twitter phenomena -just yet at least. How does the Story Prize Process Work?

The Director of the Story Prize (2009 Larry Dark), and an Advisory Board member (Julie Lindsey for the 2008 award choice) select three finalists from among the books entered by publishers, authors or agents. Nice work if you can get it.

A judging panel invited from a mix of writers, booksellers, readers, critics, teachers, publishers, and editors are then apointed to select the winner. The judges for books published in 2008 were editor and author Daniel Menaker, bookseller Rick Simonson, and author and editor Hannah Tinti.

The finalists are announced early in January each year. The 2009 winner is presented with an award and $20,000 at a ceremony at the New School's Tishman Auditorium (66 West 12th Street, New York City) in early February or late March (the variance must to be to do with availability of venue?). At the event, the three finalists read from their books and discuss their work on-stage the current Director of The Story Prize.

The event is open to the public- not sure what cost, if any is involved.

artwork above by Tragic's alter ego, Kev Parker