THE 22ND WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE IS
OTHER WORLDS BY ANDRÉ ALEXIS

As announced at a private event on March 31, 2026, that was broadcast live, the winner of The Story Prize for books published in 2025 is André Alexis for Other Worlds (FSG Originals). The other finalists were Lydia Millet for Atavists (W.W. Norton & Company) and Ayşegül Savaş for Long Distance (Bloomsbury Publishing). The Story Prize’s $20,000 top prize is among the largest first-prize amounts of any annual U.S. book award for fiction. As runners-up, Millet and Savaş each received $5,000. 

Other Worlds is Alexis’ second short story collection. Among his other publications are his five-novel Quincunx series. Alexis has also won Canada’s Giller Prize and Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and is the recipient of the Windham-Campbell prize in fiction. 

Director Larry Dark and Founder Julie Lindsey selected the three finalists for The Story Prize, now in its 22nd year, from among 114 short story collections published in 2025, representing 72 different publishers or imprints. Three judges—writer and copyeditor Benjamin Dreyer, writer and past Story Prize winner Ling Ma, and Chicago librarian Stephen Sposato—determined the winner from among the three books chosen as finalists.

About The Story Prize

Past winners have been Edwidge Danticat, Patrick O'Keeffe, Mary Gordon, Jim Shepard, Tobias Wolff, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Anthony Doerr, Steven Millhauser, Claire Vaye Watkins, George Saunders, Elizabeth McCracken, Adam Johnson, Rick Bass, Elizabeth Strout, Lauren Groff, Edwidge Danticat (again), Deesha Philyaw, Brandon Taylor, Ling Ma, Paul Yoon, and, most recently, Fiona McFarlane.

The 2026 deadlines for submitting books are July 1 for books published from January through June and November 15 for books published from July through December. You can find a list of short story collections submitted for The Story Prize in 2025 at Bookshop.org.

The Story Prize is a $20,000 book prize awarded to the author of the year’s best short story collection as chosen by three independent judges. 

“The Story Prize―which recognizes the best story collection to be published each year―has quickly established itself as a nifty jewel in a writer’s crown.”