Six fiction writers were recently named to the 2005 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize shortlist. Established earlier this year in honor of the late Irish fiction writer Frank O’Connor, the award, worth €50,000 (approximately $60,000), offers the world’s largest cash prize for a collection of short stories.
The finalists are David Bezmozigs for Natasha and Other Stories (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Alice Hoffman for Blackbird House (Doubleday), Bret Anthony Johnston for Corpus Christi (Random House), Yiyun Li for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (Random House), David Means for The Secret Goldfish (Fourth Estate) and Tim Winton for The Turning (Picador).
The finalists were selected by a five-member jury including Val McDermid, Desmond Hogan, Lames Lasdun, Mary Leland, and Hansjörg Schertenleib. The winner will be announced in September.
The award is organized by the Munster Literature Centre and the Cork 2005 European City of Culture program.
