Best Short Stories 2025: The O. Henry Prize Winner

The prestigious annual story anthology, featuring prize-winning stories by a diverse and exciting array of writers, including Wendell Berry, Alice Hoffman, Dave Eggers, Ling Ma, Lori Ostlund, and Anthony Marra.

Continuing a century-long tradition of cutting-edge literary excellence, this year's edition contains twenty prizewinning stories chosen from the thousands published in magazines over the previous year. Guest editor Edward P. Jones has brought his own refreshing perspective to the prize, selecting stories by an engaging mix of celebrated names and emerging voices. The winning stories are accompanied by an introduction by Jones, observations from the winning writers on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines that publish short fiction.

THE WINNING STORIES

The Stackpole Legend, Wendell Berry
The Arrow, Gina Chung
That Girl, Addie Citchens
The Pleasure of a Working Life, Michael Deagler
Blackbirds, Lindsey Drager
Hearing Aids, Clyde Edgerton
Sanrevelle, Dave Eggers
Stump of the World, Madeline ffitch
Shotgun Calypso, Indya Finch
City Girl, Alice Hoffman
Sickled, Jane Kalu
The Spit of Him, Thomas Korsgaard, translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken
Winner, Ling Ma
Countdown, Anthony Marra
Just Another Family, Lori Ostlund
Mornings at the Ministry, Ehsaneh Sadr
Rosaura at Dawn, Daniel Saldaña París, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney
Three Niles, Zak Salih
Strange Fruit, Yah Yah Scholfield
Miracle in Lagos Traffic, Chika Unigwe