Created in 1919, the O. Henry Prize recognises outstanding short fiction stories published in U.S and Canadian magazines.

The anthology The Best Short Stories features 20 carefully selected and compiled short stories.  The prize takes its name from the American short story writer William Sydney Porter, A.K.A, O. Henry best known for the story ‘The Gift of Magi‘. 

For the 2025 O. Henry Prize, two Nigerian writers were selected for The Best Short Stories anthology: Chika Unigwe and Jane Kalu. 

Chika Unigwe is Nigerian-born Igbo novelist who writes in English and Dutch. In 2012, she won the Nigeria Prize for Literature for her novel On Black Sisters’ Street. She is also the author of The Middle Daughter, Night Dancer and Better Never Than Late. She is the founder of the Awele Creative Trust (ACT). Her story Miracle in Lagos Traffic can now be found in the O. Henry Prize anthology. 

Jane Kalu studies Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Southern California. Her short fiction has been featured or is forthcoming in American Short Fiction, Boston Review, Narrative Magazine, The Hopkins Review, Isele Magazine, and elsewhere. Jane is a graduate of the MFA program at the University of New Mexico, where she was the recipient of the Joseph Badal Prize and the Hillerman/McGarrity Prize. Other awards include residencies and fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, StoryKnife and American short fiction. She was also a speaker on Creative Writing News PHD Application Webinar which can be found here. Her story Sickled is a part of The Best Short Stories anthology. 

The full list of the winners of the 2025 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction include:

“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

 

The anthology hits shelves on September 9, 2025. Congratulations to all the winners!