O. Henry Prize Stories 2005

Series editor Laura Furman-a novelist, short story writer, and teacher-has read more than a thousand stories to identify the twenty winners, each one a pleasure to read today, each one a potential classic. The O. Henry Prize Stories 2005 also contains brief essays from each of the three distinguished jurors on their favorite story, and comments from the prize-winning writers on the inspiration for their stories. There is nothing like the ever rich, surprising, and original O. Henry Prize collection for celebrating the contemporary short story.

Laura Furman, series editor of The O. Henry Prize Stories since 2003, is the winner of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts for her fiction. The author of several books, including the story collection The Mother Who Stayed, she taught writing for many years at the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Central Texas.