Each year a panel of professional judges appointed by the PEN America Foundation selects 12 emerging writers for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Nominations for this Award are submitted by the editorial boards of the journals in which the authors published their debut short story. Stories must be published in the year they are considered and may only be nominated by the editors of the journal in which they were originally published.
Many of these writers since have published additional stories and several are in the process of publishing their first novels. The Foundation is thrilled to support these authors and encourages you to scroll below to see what they are doing now. If you are interested in purchasing the most recent Best Debut Short Stories click here.
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Year
2024
Name
Barnett
,
Annie
Title
What Child is This?
Publishing Journal
New England Review
Year
2024
Name
Felix
,
Winelle
Title
Return to Sender: Big Time Tief
Publishing Journal
Transition Magazine
Year
2023
Name
Alfonseca
,
Dailihana
Title
Spanish Soap Operas Killed My Mother
Publishing Journal
Driftwood Press
Year
2023
Name
Holgate
,
Stephenjohn
Title
Delroy and the Boys
Publishing Journal
West Trade Review
Year
2023
Name
Lin
,
Mengyin
Title
Magic or Something Less Assuring
Publishing Journal
Epiphany
Year
2023
Name
Mundy
,
Clara
Title
Schism in a Soul So Tender
Publishing Journal
Apricity Magazine
Year
2023
Name
Ulaka
,
Annabelle
Title
My Grandmother's Feline Soul
Publishing Journal
West Trade Review
Year
2023
Name
Wartenberg
,
Lisa
Title
What is Ours
Publishing Journal
Nimrod International Journal
Year
2022
Name
Connal
,
Erin
Title
The Black Kite and the Wind
Publishing Journal
Virginia Quarterly Review
Year
2022
Name
Kirschenbaum
,
Patch
Title
For Future Reference: Notes on the 7-10 Split
Publishing Journal
The Cincinnatti Review
Year
2022
Name
Majeed
,
Yasmin Adele
Title
A Wedding in Multan, 1978
Publishing Journal
The Asian American Literary Review
Year
2022
Name
Muees
,
Oyedotun Damilola
Title
All We Have Left is Ourselves
Publishing Journal
Reckoning
Year
2022
Name
Shook
,
Cal
Title
Man, Man, Et Cetera
Publishing Journal
The Virginia Quarterly Review
Additional Info
Year
2022
Name
Vangani
,
Preeti
Title
Work Wives
Publishing Journal
Typehouse Literary Magazine
Year
2021
Name
Aruffo
,
Heather
Title
Force, Mass, Acceleration
Publishing Journal
The Southern Review
Year
2021
Name
Green
,
Isaac Hughes
Title
The First Time I Said It
Publishing Journal
The Georgia Review
Additional Info
Year
2021
Name
Injam
,
Nishanth
Title
The Math Of Living
Publishing Journal
Virginia Quarterly Review
Year
2021
Name
Mathapelo
,
Mofoken
Title
The Strong-Strong Winds
Publishing Journal
Adda
Additional Info
Year
2021
Name
Mbabazi
,
Khaddafina
Title
Transit
Publishing Journal
Virginia Quarterly Review
Year
2021
Name
Stocker
,
Stanley Patrick
Title
The List
Publishing Journal
Kestrel
Additional Info
Year
2021
Name
Toor
,
Pardeep
Title
Taxi
Publishing Journal
Midwest Review
Year
2020
Name
Cooney
,
Ani Sison
Title
Evangelina Concepcion"
Publishing Journal
Epiphany
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Hegarty
,
Valerie
Title
Cats v. Cancer
Publishing Journal
New England Review
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Lawrence
,
David Kelly
Title
The Other Child
Publishing Journal
The Threepenny Review
Year
2020
Name
Moon
,
Sena
Title
Dog Dreams
Publishing Journal
Quarterly West
Year
2020
Name
Richards
,
Willa
Title
Failure to Thrive
Publishing Journal
The Paris Review
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Sanders
,
Shannon
Title
The Good, Good Men
Publishing Journal
Puerto del Sol, Black Voices Series
Additional Info
Year
2020
Name
Tsumura
,
Kikuko
Title
The Water Tower and the Turtle
Publishing Journal
Granta
Year
2020
Name
Vegari
,
Matthew Jeffrey
Title
Don't Go to Strangers
Publishing Journal
Zyzzyva
Additional Info
Year
2019
Name
Curry
,
Sarah
Title
The Rickies
Publishing Journal
Nimrod International Journal
Year
2019
Name
Henderson
,
Doug
Title
The Manga Artist
Publishing Journal
The Iowa Review
Year
2019
Name
Ibegwam
,
Enyeribe
Title
Good Hope
Publishing Journal
Auburn Avenue
Year
2019
Name
Jones
,
Jade
Title
Today, You're a Black Revolutionary
Publishing Journal
The Rumpus
Additional Info
Year
2019
Name
Manolakas
,
Marilyn
Title
Tornado Season
Publishing Journal
Alaska Quarterly Review
Year
2019
Name
Peterson
,
Kelsey
Title
The Unsent Letters of Blaise and Jacqueline Pascal
Publishing Journal
Conjunctions
Additional Info
Year
2019
Name
Young
,
A. B.
Title
Vain Beasts
Publishing Journal
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
Year
2018
Name
Agbo
,
Elinam
Title
1983
Publishing Journal
The Baltimore Review
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Friedlander
,
Lauren
Title
Bellevonia Beautee
Publishing Journal
The Rumpus
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Fries
,
Cristina
Title
New Years in La Calera
Publishing Journal
Epoch
Year
2018
Name
Mohammed
,
Celeste
Title
Six Months
Publishing Journal
New England Review
Year
2018
Name
Morley
,
Grayson
Title
Brent, Bandit King
Publishing Journal
The Brooklyn Review
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Streep
,
Maud
Title
The Crazies
Publishing Journal
One Story
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Terrell
,
Alex
Title
Black Dog
Publishing Journal
Black Warrior Review
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Tomasula y Garcia
,
Ava
Title
Videoteca Fin Del Mundo
Publishing Journal
Black Warrior Review
Year
2018
Name
Tucker
,
Megan
Title
Candidates
Publishing Journal
Washington Square Review
Additional Info
Year
2018
Name
Wang
,
Ernie
Title
Stay Brave, My Hercules
Publishing Journal
McSweeney's
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Ajayi
,
Angela
Title
Galina
Publishing Journal
Fifth Wednesday Journal
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Caron
,
Amber
Title
The Handler
Publishing Journal
Southwest Review
Year
2017
Name
Chammah
,
Emily
Title
Tell Me, Please
Publishing Journal
The Common
Year
2017
Name
Chow Reeve
,
Laura
Title
1,000-Year-Old Ghosts
Publishing Journal
Hyphen
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Cole
,
Jim
Title
The Asphodel Meadow
Publishing Journal
The Summerset Review
Year
2017
Name
Kim
,
Crystal Hana
Title
Solee
Publishing Journal
The Southern Review
Year
2017
Name
Magyarody
,
Katherine
Title
Goldhawk
Publishing Journal
The Malahat Review
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Sauber
,
Amy
Title
State Facts for the New Age
Publishing Journal
The Rumpus
Additional Info
Year
2017
Name
Shattuck
,
Ben
Title
Edwin Chase of Nantucket
Publishing Journal
Harvard Review