Reading List · Short stories
The O. Henry Prize, first presented in 1919, is an annual selection of short stories published in magazines, collected in an anthology. It began as Prize Stories 1919: The O. Henry Memorial Awards, funded by the Society of Arts and Sciences, and is described as the oldest annual award for short fiction in the United States. Since 2021 a guest editor has chosen twenty stories each year, and the book has appeared as The Best Short Stories, subtitled The O. Henry Prize Winners.
By Lisanne Swart · 11 editions since 2015 · Short stories · All literary prizes · Last reviewed 28 October 2026
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The 2026 prize stories, chosen by guest editor Tommy Orange, were announced on 14 April 2026 and collected in The Best Short Stories 2026: The O. Henry Prize Winners. The 2027 guest editor was not found in the sources consulted.
Quick answer
The O. Henry Prize is an annual award for short stories published in magazines, given since 1919, with the winning stories collected in an anthology. The latest edition is The Best Short Stories 2026: The O. Henry Prize Winners, with twenty stories chosen by guest editor Tommy Orange.
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The timeline at the top lists every winner, all twelve of them. The latest eleven have their own entry further down, oldest first; the titles in the timeline that you can click are those.
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Twenty prize stories chosen by series editor Laura Furman, with essays by the year's jurors, including work by Percival Everett, Lydia Davis, Lionel Shriver, Russell Banks, Elizabeth Strout and Elizabeth McCracken.
Jurors' favourites included stories by Elizabeth McCracken, Christopher Merkner and Dina Nayeri.
Twenty prize stories chosen by series editor Laura Furman, including work by Wendell Berry, Robert Coover, Ottessa Moshfegh, Diane Cook, Elizabeth Tallent and Ron Carlson.
The jurors were Molly Antopol, Peter Cameron and Lionel Shriver.
Twenty prize stories chosen by series editor Laura Furman, including work by Kevin Barry, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Joseph O'Neill, Tahmima Anam, Michelle Huneven and Fiona McFarlane.
The jurors were David Bradley, Elizabeth McCracken and Brad Watson.
Twenty prize stories chosen by series editor Laura Furman, including work by Anne Enright, Jo Ann Beard, Jenny Zhang, Lara Vapnyar, Jamil Jan Kochai and Marjorie Celona.
The jurors were Fiona McFarlane, Ottessa Moshfegh and Elizabeth Tallent.
Twenty prize stories chosen by series editor Laura Furman, including work by Tessa Hadley, John Edgar Wideman, Sarah Hall, Bryan Washington, Weike Wang and Souvankham Thammavongsa.
The last edition edited by Laura Furman, series editor since 2003; the jurors were Lynn Freed, Elizabeth Strout and Lara Vapnyar.
Twenty stories chosen by guest editor Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, including work by Sally Rooney, Anthony Doerr, Tessa Hadley, Jamel Brinkley, Emma Cline and Karina Sainz Borgo in translation.
The first edition under the new title and the first chosen by a single guest editor, after no volume appeared in 2020.
Twenty stories chosen by guest editor Valeria Luiselli, including work by Olga Tokarczuk, Lorrie Moore, Samanta Schweblin, Alejandro Zambra, Vladimir Sorokin and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
The first year the series was opened to stories from African magazines.
Twenty stories chosen by guest editor Lauren Groff, including work by Ling Ma, Catherine Lacey, Lisa Taddeo, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Jamil Jan Kochai and Cristina Rivera Garza.
Three of the twenty stories appear in translation, by Jonas Eika, Rodrigo Blanco Calderón and Cristina Rivera Garza.
Twenty stories chosen by guest editor Amor Towles, including work by Kate DiCamillo, Allegra Goodman, Dave Eggers, Jess Walter, Colin Barrett, Tom Crewe and Madeline ffitch.
Two stories are translations: Michele Mari's, translated by Brian Robert Moore, and Juliana Leite's, translated by Zoë Perry.
Twenty stories chosen by guest editor Edward P. Jones, including work by Wendell Berry, Alice Hoffman, Dave Eggers, Ling Ma, Anthony Marra and Chika Unigwe.
Includes translated stories by Thomas Korsgaard and Daniel Saldaña París.
Twenty stories chosen by guest editor Tommy Orange from American and Canadian magazines, including work by Colm Tóibín, Louise Erdrich, Brandon Taylor, Weike Wang, Samanta Schweblin and Catherine Lacey.
Four stories are translations, from Galician, Russian, French and Spanish; one is told entirely through social media.
The award was first presented in 1919, funded by the Society of Arts and Sciences, with a collection titled Prize Stories 1919: The O. Henry Memorial Awards; its first winner was Margaret Prescott Montague for “England to America”. Until 2002 the editors named first, second and third prize winners. From 2003 to 2019, under series editor Laura Furman, three jurors each picked a story of special interest or merit from the selection.
In 2009 the series became the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, in partnership with PEN American Center. After a gap in 2020, the series returned in 2021 with a new format and title: a single guest editor chooses twenty stories, and the book is called The Best Short Stories with the year, subtitled The O. Henry Prize Winners. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was the first guest editor.
Eligible stories are those published in American or Canadian periodicals, and stories in translation are included; in 2022 the series also opened to African magazines. The 2026 edition, for example, includes four translated stories, from Galician, Russian, French and Spanish.
The guest editors since 2021 have been Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2021), Valeria Luiselli (2022), Lauren Groff (2023), Amor Towles (2024), Edward P. Jones (2025) and Tommy Orange (2026). Earlier series editors included Blanche Colton Williams (1919–32), Harry Hansen, Paul Engle, William Abrahams (1967–96), Larry Dark and Laura Furman; Jenny Minton Quigley is the current series editor.
An annual award for short stories published in American and Canadian magazines, given since 1919. The winning stories are collected in an anthology.
Tommy Orange was the guest editor of The Best Short Stories 2026: The O. Henry Prize Winners, which collects twenty stories.
With the 2021 edition, guest-edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, after no volume appeared in 2020.
No. First, second and third prizes were named until 2002. From 2003 to 2019 three jurors each singled out a favourite, and since 2021 a guest editor selects twenty stories.
Twenty.
Yes. Stories in translation are eligible if published in an American or Canadian periodical; the 2026 edition includes four.
Cynthia Ozick won four times between 1975 and 1992. Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty and Stephen Vincent Benét won three times each.
Margaret Prescott Montague, for “England to America”, published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1918.
Winner list last verified 28 October 2026.
The notes on this page are all mine,
and the books are all theirs.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
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