Now in its 22nd year, the Story Prize recognizes excellent short fiction from all over the world.
Today, three finalists have been selected by Julie Lindsey and Larry Dark, the respective founder and current director of the Story Prize. This committee selected the finalists from 114 submissions. Collections came from 72 different publishers or imprints, and cover a gamut of styles and sensibilities.
Lindsey and Dark praised the three exemplary collections for their nuanced explorations of the human condition.
Here are this year’s finalists.
André Alexis, Other Worlds
Lydia Millet, Atavists
Ayşegül Savaş, Long Distance
Three judges—a crackerjack panel, featuring the authors Ling Ma and Benjamin Dreyer as well as the Chicago librarian Stephen Sposato—will select the winner at a private ceremony in March. That winning author will take home the $20,000 prize, while the other two finalists will receive $5,000.
Savaş, Millet, and Alexis join a storied (ha) bench of previous Prize finalists, including Edwidge Danticat, Claire Vaye Watkins, George Saunders, Deesha Philyaw, and Ling Ma herself. Last year’s award went to Fiona MacFarlane, for her collection Highway Thirteen.
Congratulations to the 2026 finalists!
