Friday 16 September 2011

Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award 2011

Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun LiThe winner of the 7th Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, the world’s most valuable short story award worth €35,000, will be announced on September 18th.The six shortlisted books are Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li; Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod; Saints and Sinners by Edna O’Brien; Death is Not an Option by Suzanne Rivecca; The Empty Family by Colm Tóibín; Marry or Burn by Valerie Trueblood.

Ireland is represented on the shortlist by Edna O’Brien and Colm Toibin. It is the first year that two Irish authors have been shortlisted. Beijing-born Yiyun Li was the inaugural winner of the award in 2005 for her first collection A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. There are two young debutantes, Canadian Alexander MacLeod and American Suzanne Rivecca. American novelist Valerie Trueblood is shortlisted with her first short story collection. The award is administered by the Munster Literature Centre and funded by Cork City Council. In honouring Cork’s literary genius and its most famous short story writer, it is hoped this award will achieve international recognition for the short story and highlight Cork’s important contribution to this literary art form. The award will be presented at the culmination of the Cork International Short Story Festival on Sunday September 18th.

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