Mubanga Kalimamukwento of Mounds View, MN is the winner of the 2024 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, one of the nation’s most prestigious prizes for a collection of short stories. Kalimamukwento’s collection, Obligations to the Wounded, was selected by Angie Cruz. The University of Pittsburgh Press is pleased to publish this collection on October 8, 2024. “These thematically linked stories deliver an intricate study of Zambian women living in both Zambia and abroad who are weighing their options of who to love, where to live, where to work,” states Angie Cruz, author of How Not to Drown in a Glass of…

Kelly Sather of Larkspur, CA is the 2023 winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for a collection of short stories. Sather’s debut book, Small in Real Life, was selected by author Deesha Philyaw. The University of Pittsburgh Press will publish Small in Real Life this fall (on-sale date: October 3, 2023). “This compact but mighty collection explores both the heights and depths of the unsavory business of being human,” says Philyaw, National Book Award finalist and author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. “With exquisite, emotionally rich prose, every single story…

Ramona Reeves of Austin, Texas is the 2022 winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for a collection of short stories. Reeves’ debut book, It Falls Gently All Around, was selected by novelist Elizabeth Graver. The University of Pittsburgh Press will publish It Falls Gently All Around next fall (October 2022). “These big-hearted stories offer a kaleidoscopic vision of Mobile, Alabama, a place marked by a tangled history and no less tangled present,” said The End of the Point author. “With insight, humor, and tenderness, Ramona Reeves renders lives as notable for their…

The winner of this year’s Drue Heinz Literature Prize, Now You Know It All by Joanna Pearson, is a masterful act of storytelling. Poised on the precipice of mystery and longing, each character in Now You Know It All also hovers on the brink of discovery—and decision. Set in small-town North Carolina, or featuring eager Southerners venturing afar, these stories capture the crucial moment of irrevocable change. A young waitress accepts an offer from a beguiling stranger; a troubled boy attempts to unleash the villain from an internet hoax on his party guests; a smitten student finds more than she…

The winner of this year’s Drue Heinz Literature Prize, The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories by Caroline Kim, is a captivating debut. Exploring what it means to be human through the Korean diaspora, Kim’s stories feature many voices. From a teenage girl in 1980’s America, to a boy growing up in the middle of the Korean War, to an immigrant father struggling to be closer to his adult daughter, or to a suburban housewife whose equilibrium depends upon a therapy robot, each character must face their less-than-ideal circumstances and find a way to overcome them without losing themselves. Language…