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Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize
Project Partner:
Munster Literature Centre
Contact:
www.munsterlit.ie
Date: 25 September 2005
Venue: Clarion Hotel
Project Description:
Frank O’Connor, Ireland’s most renowned exponent of the short story, was honoured by a prestigious international short story prize in his memory worth €50,000. The Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize, which was sponsored by O’Flynn Construction in 2005, is the single biggest prize in the world for a collection of short stories.
Over sixty submissions have been received from publishing centres in New York, London and Dublin including collections by some the world’s leading short story writers. An international panel of judges including Chairperson Val McDermid (UK), Desmond Hogan (IRL), Lames Lasdun (UK/USA), Mary Leland (IRL) and Hansjörg Schertenleib (SWI) short listed six international authors for the inaugural prize. They were David Bezmozigs, Alice Hoffman, Bret Anthony Johnston, Yiyun Li, David Means and Tim Winton.
The Prize was presented to Chinese author Yiyun Li at a gala dinner and award ceremony in September. Yiyun Li received the prestigious prize of €50,000 for her debut collection of short stories, ‘A Thousand Years of Good Prayers’.
Cork is famous for its short story writers, including Frank O'Connor, Sean O'Faolain and Daniel Corkery. This major international prize celebrated the city’s intimate relationship with the short story. The Prize, for a complete collection of previously unpublished stories in a book collection, will now be held annually and it is hoped it will play a significant role in establishing parity of esteem for the short story collection alongside the novel.
