The Pen / O. Henry Prize Stories 2011

The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2011 contains twenty unforgettable stories selected from hundreds of literary magazines. The winning tales take place in such far-flung locales as Madagascar, Nantucket, a Midwestern meth lab, Antarctica, and a post-apocalyptic England, and feature a fascinating array of characters: aging jazzmen, avalanche researchers, a South African wild child, and a mute actor in silent films. Also included are essays from the eminent jurors on their favorite stories, observations from the winners on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines.

Your Fate Hurtles Down at You
Jim Shepard

Diary of an Interesting Year
Helen Simpson

Melinda
Judy Doenges

Nightblooming
Kenneth Calhoun

The Restoration of the Villa Where Tibor Kalman Once Lived
Tamas Dobozy

Ice
Lily Tuck

How to Leave Hialeah
Jennine Capo Crucet

The Junction
David Means

Pole, Pole
Susan Minot

Alamo Plaza
Brad Watson

The Black Square
Chris Adrian

Nothing of Consequence
Jane Delury

The Rules Are the Rules
Adam Foulds

The Vanishing American
Leslie Parry

Crossing
Mark Slouka

Bed Death
Lori Ostlund

Windeye
Brian Evenson

Sunshine
Lynn Freed

Never Come Back
Elizabeth Tallent

Something You Can’t Live Without
Matthew Neill Null

For author interviews, photos, and more, go to www.ohenryprizestories.com

A portion of the proceeds from this book will go to support the PEN Readers & Writers Literary Outreach Program.

Laura Furman, series editor of The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories since 2003, is the winner of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts for her fiction. The author of seven books, including her recent story collection The Mother Who Stayed, she taught writing for many years at the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Central Texas.