Sunday 18 March 2007

O. Henry Prize

I've had to keep quiet about this for over six months, but now that my story is about to be performed at the University of Austin, Texas, on Tuesday (for details click here), I can tell you that THE SCENT OF CINNAMON, first published by One Story in November 2005, has been chosen as one of the O.Henry prizewinning short stories for this year.

The anthology should be coming out in May, but I'll keep you posted.

I'm delighted. And if you happen to be in Austin on Tuesday and see the show, tell me about it!

15 comments:

David Isaak said...

Wow, congrats--the O. Henry is one to be proud of!

Charles Lambert said...

Yes, and to think that the story was originally written for the Daphne Du Maurier short story competition, a very local affair, and wasn't even longlisted!

Chancelucky said...

Charles,
Double Wow, congratulations on such a huge honor.

I'll have to track the story down and read it.

I've sometimes wondered if contest judges even read half the stories. I know that the final celebrity judge in most of these contests usually sees no more than 50 of the submitted stories, but I have no idea if they're screened by someone who actually reads them.

Roger Morris said...

Congratulations, Charles. That's a biggy!

Charles Lambert said...

As far as I know the final judges see the 20 stories that are selected as prizewinners and make their choice from those. Before that it's all the work of Laura Furman, who must read thousands of stories each year. Whatever, I'm thrilled that I can finally talk about it... It's been a difficult six months not being able to mention it without the O. Henry go-ahead.

Tricia Dower said...

Charles, how wonderful for you! I'm so pleased.

Charles Lambert said...

Thanks, Tricia, you helped me get the story right!

Chancelucky said...

Charles,
my contest question, was more about the original Du Maurier contest and not the O'Henry committee....

I didn't mean to drive the comments off the topic of congratulating you now that you can come out about the O'Henry.... I've been seeing contests that demand a $15 entry fee and have often wondered how many of those entries get read by anybody, hence my digression into the mysteries of contests per se.

Patti Auburn said...

Fabulous news Charles. Congratulations!

Charles Lambert said...

Sorry, I misunderstood. I have no idea who judged the DdM contest, although I think a member of her family was involved, and maybe someone from the local council (who sponsored the competition). Whatever, it was free, so I won't complain.

I'm wary of comps with fees, although I know that magazines like Cadenza (UK) charge (or charged, I'm not sure now) a fee for their comps and took the business very seriously, and made some excellent choices.

I'm submissions editor for a ezine myself, and read hundreds of stories in search of suitable pieces. Every story gets its chance...

Charles Lambert said...

Thanks, Patti!

Carol Novack said...

Congratulations, Charles! May you enjoy many more kudos in your life!

Charles Lambert said...

Thanks, Carol!

Vanessa Gebbie said...

Golly, Charles, this is fabulous fabulous news. I'm proud to know you over the ether.


And thank you for the mention of Cadenza!

Vanessa

Charles Lambert said...

Thanks, Vanessa. And I'm always delighted to mention Cadenza!