The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry.

The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories is an annual collection of the year's twenty best stories published in U.S. and Canadian magazines. Along with The Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Prize Stories is one of the two "best-known annual anthologies of short fiction.""Short and Sweet" by Mark Harris, Entertainment Weekly, 11/05/99, issue 511, page 73.

Until 2002 there were first, second, and third prize winners and from 2003 to 2019 there were three jurors who each selected a short story of special interest or merit; the collection is called The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and the original collection was called Prize Stories 1919: The O. Henry Memorial Awards.

History and format The award was first presented in 1919 and funded by the Society of Arts and Sciences.

the guest editor chooses twenty short stories, each an O. Henry Prize story. All stories published in an American or Canadian periodical are eligible for consideration, including stories that have been translated into English. The goal of The O. Henry Prize Stories remains to strengthen the art of the short story.

The current series editor for The O. Henry Prize Stories is Jenny Minton Quigley. Past series editors have been: Blanche Colton Williams (1919–32), Harry Hansen (1933–40), Herschel Brickell (1941–51), Paul Engle (1954–59), Mary Stegner (1960), Richard Poirier (1961–66, assisted by William Abrahams, 1964–66), William Abrahams (1967–96), Larry Dark (1997–2002) and Laura Furman (2003–2019). There were no volumes of the series in 1952 and 1953 (due to Herschel Brickell's death), 2004 and 2020.

In 2022, the series opened to African magazines.

Partnership with PEN American Center In 2009 The O. Henry Prize Stories publisher, Anchor Books, renamed the series in partnership with the PEN American Center (today PEN America), producing the first PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories collection. Proceeds from the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2009 would be directed to PEN's Readers & Writers Program, which sends well-known authors to under served inner-city schools.

The selection included stories by Graham Joyce, John Burnside, Roger Nash, Manuel Muñoz, Ha Jin, Paul Theroux, Judy Troy, Nadine Gordimer, Marisa Silver, Paul Yoon, Andrew Sean Greer, and Junot Díaz, with A. S. Byatt, Tim O'Brien and Anthony Doerr – all authors of past O. Henry Prize Stories – serving as the prize jury.Itzkoff, Dave. "O. Henry Prize, PEN Announce Partnership" , "The New York Times Arts Beat", 2009-04-07.

In an interview for the Vintage Books and Anchor Books blog, editor Laura Furman called the collaboration with PEN a "natural partnership"."Two Literary Lions Merge", "Vintage Books", 2009-04-10.

First-prize winners (1919–2002) +O. Henry Award winnersYearAuthorTitlePublicationRef.1919England to America, September 19181920Each in His GenerationScribner's Magazine, July 19201921Everybody's Magazine, January 19211922Snake DoctorCosmopolitan, November 19221923PreludeHarper's Magazine, May 19231924McCall's, June 19241925Mr. Bisbee's PrincessRedbook, May 19251926BubblesHarper's Magazine1927Child of GodHarper's Magazine, April 19271928Redbook, March 19281929Big BlondeBookman Magazine, February 19291930Dressing-UpHarper's Magazine, November 1929Neither Jew nor Greek, August 19291931Can't Cross Jordan by MyselfPictorial Review1932Pictorial Review, February 19321933Gal Young UnHarper's Magazine, June-July 19321934No More Trouble for JedwickEsquire1935Harper's Magazine1936Total Stranger, February 15, 193619371938Harper's Magazine1939Barn BurningHarper's Magazine1940Freedom's a Hard-Bought Thing1941Defeat1942Harper's Magazine1943Livvie is Back1944Walking Wounded19451946Bird Song1947Harper's Magazine1948Shut a Final Door19491950Harper's Magazine1951Epoch1952No edition1953No edition19541955In the Zoo19561957Greenleaf1958In Sickness as in Health1959Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time1960, Winter 1958–591961Tell Me a RiddleNew World Writing1962Holiday, December 19601963Everything That Rises Must ConvergeNew World Writing1964, November 3, 19621965Revelation, Spring 19641966, March 13, 19651967In the Region of Ice, August 19661968, November 26, 19661969Man in the Drawer, April 19681970, January 11, 19691971Twin Bed Bridge, May 19701972Strange-Dreaming Charlie, Cow-Eyed Charlie, March 20, 19711973McCall's, July 19711974Brownstone, January 27, 19731975, September 17, 1973Usurpation (Other People's Stories)Esquire, May 19741976His Son in His Arms, in Light, AloftEsquire, August 19751977, July 26, 1976Last CourtesiesHarper's Magazine, July 19761978, May 2, 19771979Getting Serious, Fall 19771980, September 25, 19781981, May 26, 19801982Facing FrontEpoch, Winter 19801983Ploughshares1984Rosa, March 21, 19831985Hot IceAntaeusLily1986Kindred SpiritsEsquire, August 19851987FleurEsquire, August 1986Harper's Magazine, July 19861988Errand, June 1, 19871989Peacocks, Winter 19881990TriQuarterly, Winter 19891991, June 11, 19901992Puttermesser Paired, October 8, 19901993, December 2, 19911994Better Be Ready 'Bout Half Past Eight, January 19931995New England Review, Spring 19941996, October 31, 19941997City LifePloughshares1998People Like That Are the Only People Here, January 27, 199719992000Weight20012002McSweeney's

Juror favorites (2003–2019) +O. Henry Award Juror FavoritesYearAuthorTitlePublicationRef.2003, June 3, 2002Train Dreams, Summer 20022004No award2005What You Pawn I Will Redeem, April 21, 2003Refuge in LondonZoetrope: All-Story, Winter 2003Mudlavia, September 20032006WindowTin House, Spring 2004Old Boys, Old Girls, May 3, 2004Passion, March 22, 20042007Galveston Bay, 1826Manoa, Winter 2004, May 16, 20052008What Do You Want To Know For?Folie a DeuxTouchTin House2009Wildwood2010Oh, Death, Spring 2009, September 15, 2008, December 15, 20082011SunshineNarrative MagazineSomething You Can't Live WithoutOxford AmericanYour Fate Hurtles Down at YouElectric Literature2012KindnessCorrie2013Tin HouseYour Duck Is My DuckFenceTin House2014GrantaTin HouseOpa-locka2015Birdsong from the RadioZoetrope: All-StoryCabinsSubtropics2016IrisesTrain to HarbinWinter, 1965BOMB2017Too Good to Be TrueHarper'sSecret Lives of the DetaineesButtony2018Tin HouseCounterblast2019Funny Little SnakeGirl of Few SeasonsPloughshares SolosOmakase

Guest editor (2021–present) +O. Henry Award guest editorsYearEditorRef.202120222023202420252026

See also The Best American Short Stories

References

External links

O. Henry Prize, PEN Announce Partnership 2009 PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories Three-time winners Past winners (by author, 1919–2017) at Random House (via Archive.org) Past winners (by date, 1919–1999) at Random House's Bold Type (via Archive.org) Compilations by year