The Iowa Award: The Best Stories, 1991-2000 [Paperback]

Frank Conroy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

According to the New York Times Book Review, the Iowa Short Fiction Award is among the most prestigious literary prizes America offers, and the Chicago Tribune has called the honor a respected prize that annually introduces readers to a writer whose work is little known outside the circle of literary magazine and university publications. In 1991, to both celebrate the stories discovered by the Iowa Short Fiction Award and its companion, the John Simmons Short Fiction Award, and to further acquaint readers with the prize-winning authors, Frank Conroy compiled The Iowa Award: The Best Stories from Twenty Years. He follows that now with The Iowa Award: The Best Stories, 1991-2000, a collection of twenty-one winning selections.

Whether hurtling toward Earth in a disabled airplane, sharing silence with a prostitute, fantasizing about the Manson family, or hiding disgust for a dying friend, the characters in this new collection engage and captivate readers. The authors from 1991 winners Elizabeth Harris and Sondra Spatt Olsen to newcomers John McNally and Elizabeth Oness explore the nuances of love, lust, youth, old age, illness, nostalgia, obsession, idiosyncrasy, and surprise.

Their work judged by such accomplished writers as Ethan Canin, Francine Prose, Ann Beattie, and Stuart Dybek and the selections Conroy has chosen to share exemplify remarkable writing. Moreover, each writer achieves the expectations of the Iowa Short Fiction Award, established in 1969 to provide a forum for the publication of a uniquely American literary form.

IOWA SHORT FICTION AWARD WINNERS, 1991-2000

David Borofka Mark Brazaitis Kathryn Chetkovich Tereze Glück Ann Harleman Elizabeth Harris Jim Henry Lisa Lenzo John McNally Renée Manfredi Susan Onthank Mates Rod Val Moore Thisbe Nissen Sondra Spatt Olsen Elizabeth Oness Nancy Reisman Elizabeth Searle Enid Shomer Lex Williford Charles Wyatt Don Zancanella

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the introduction to these 21 stories, Conroy, head of the Iowa Writers Workshop, states that the collection is "proof that serious writers exist, that they work to very high standards... and contribute to the forward movement of American literary high culture." This aptly attests to the ambitions of the writers, each the winner of a Writer's Workshop writing award, but perhaps also suggests an academic dryness; the aura of apprenticeship hovers over some of these tales. Still, there are a number of standouts. One of the most powerful, "The Oracle," by Elizabeth Oness, deals with a young college graduate manipulated into an affair by the teenaged daughter of the man his widowed mother plans to marry. He discovers too late that the girl's motivation is revenge. In "Hints of His Mortality," David Borofka tells of a man trapped in a disabled 727 that may soon crash. So traumatized is he by the vision of a highly imperfect life flashing before his eyes that when he survives, he is crushed by the realization that there is "no real cause for celebration." "Gladys Knows," by Jim Henry, is the harrowing tale of a teenaged girl struggling unsuccessfully to cope with the senseless murder of her father. Most of the contributors have yet to make a name for themselves in the larger literary arena, but the stories collected here prove their promise.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Frank Conroy is the director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. He is the author of Midair and Stop-Time, and his short stories and articles have appeared in numerous anthologies and publications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877457859
• ISBN-13: 978-0877457855
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,095,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)