PEN America Literary Award PEN/Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers

The PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers recognizes 12 emerging writers each year for their debut short story published in a literary magazine, journal, or cultural website, and aims to support the launch of their careers as fiction writers. The 12 winning stories are selected by a committee of three judges who are well-respected experts in the art of the short story. The winning writers each receive a $2,000 cash prize and will be published by Catapult in their annual anthology, Best Debut Short Stories: The PEN America Dau Prize.

The prize is generously supported by the family of the late Robert J. Dau, whose commitment to the literary arts has made him a fitting namesake for this career-launching prize. Inspired by Dau’s hometown in northern Michigan and its proximity to Walloon Lake, where Ernest Hemingway spent much time and derived inspiration from, the prize promotes emerging voices and spotlights the next generation of fiction writers.

SUBMIT HERE

Submissions will close November 1, 2023.

2023 Winners

Judges: Venita Blackburn, Richard Chiem, Dantiel W. Moniz

Acts of Creation” (Peatsmoke) Jo Saleska Lange
“Allen” (HEAT) Ren Arcamone
Delroy and the Boys(West Trade Review) Stephenjohn Holgate
What is Ours(Nimrod International Journal) Lisa Wartenberg
Taidu”  (Carve Magazine) Patrick J. Zhou
My Grandmother’s Feline Soul” (West Trade Review) Annabelle Ulaka
Schism in a Soul So Tender(Apricity Magazine) Clara Mundy
“Filth” (Hypertext Magazine) Verity McKay
Outgrowth” (Waxwing Magazine) Sonia Feldman
Magic or Something Less Assuring” (Epiphany) Mengyin Lin
Standing Still” (Cincinnati Review) Faire Holliday
Spanish Soap Operas Killed My Mother” (Driftwood Press) Dailihana Alfonseca

Previous Anthologies

History

Previous Winners

2022
“A Wedding in Multan, 1978” (The Asian American Literary Review) Yasmin Adele Majeed
“All We Have Left is Ourselves” (Reckoning) Oyedotun Damilola Muees
“Beat by Beat” (Barrelhouse Magazine) Emma Shannon
“For Future Reference: Notes on the 7-10 Split” (The Cincinnati Review) Patch Kirschenbaum
“Man, Man, Et Cetera”  (The Virginia Quarterly Review) Cal Shook
“Sacrilege” (BOMB Magazine) Edward Salem
“The Black Kite and the Wind” (Virginia Quarterly Review) Erin Connal
“The Cacophobe” (Ploughshares) Seth Wang
“The Chicken” (The White Review) RZ Baschir
“Them Bones” (Hobart) CK Kane
“Work Wives” (Typehouse Literary Magazine) Preeti Vangani
“Writing with Blood” (Flock) Catherine Bai

2021
“Force, Mass, Acceleration” (The Southern Review), Heather Aruffo
“Good Girls” (Barrelhouse), Lindsay Ferguson
“The First Time I Said It” (The Georgia Review), Isaac Hughes Green
“Maria” (Waxwing Magazine), Amy Haejung
“The Math of Living” (Virginia Quarterly Review), Nishanth Injam
“Transit” (Virginia Quarterly Review), Khaddafina Mbabazi
“Re:Frankie” (Porter House Review), Mackenzie McGee
“The Strong-Strong Winds” (adda), Mathapelo Mofokeng
“Salt” (Michigan Quarterly Review), Alberto Reyes Morgan
“The List” (Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art), Stanley Patrick Stocker
“Taxi” (Midwest Review), Pardeep Toor
“Mandy’s Mary Sue” (Sine Theta Magazine), Qianze Zhang

2020
“Bat Outta Hell” (Foglifter Journal), Damitri Martinez
“Cats vs. Cancer” (New England Review), Valerie Hegarty
“Dog Dreams” (Quarterly West), Sena Moon
“Don’t Go to Strangers” (Zyzzyva), Matthew Jeffrey Vegari
“Evangelina Concepcion” (Epiphany), Ani Sison Cooney
“Failure to Thrive” (The Paris Review), Willa Richards
“Gauri Kalyanam” (The Rumpus), Kristen Sahaana Surya
“Madam’s Sister” (Granta), Mbozi Haimbe
“Summertime” (Michigan Quarterly Review), Mohit Manohar
“The Good, Good Men” (Puerto del Sol, Black Voices Series), Shannon Sanders
“The Other Child” (The Threepenny Review), David Kelly Lawrence
“The Water Tower and the Turtle” (Granta), Kikuko Tsumura, translated by Polly Barton

2019
“The Rickies” (Nimrod Journal), Sarah Curry
“Mother and Child” (The Sun), Laura Freudig
“The Manga Artist” (The Iowa Review), Doug Henderson
“Good Hope” (Auburn Avenue), Enyeribe Ibegwan
“Cicadas and the Dead Chairman” (Epiphany), Pingmei Lan
“Without a Big One” (Kweli Journal), John Paul Infante
“Last Days, Part 1” (Black Warrior Review), Tamiko Beyer
“Tornado Season” (Alaska Quarterly Review), Marilyn Manolakas
“Bad Northern Women” (Conjunctions), Erin Singer
“The Unsent Letters of Blaise and Jacqueline Pascal” (Conjunctions), Kelsey Peterson
“Today, You’re a Black Revolutionary” (The Rumpus), Jade Jones
“Vain Beasts” (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet), A. B. Young

2018
“1983” (The Baltimore Review), Elinam Agbo
“Appetite” (SLICE), Lin King
“Bellevonia Beautee” (The Rumpus), Lauren Friedlander
“Black Dog” (Black Warrior Review), Alex Terrell
“Brent, Bandit King” (The Brooklyn Review), Grayson Morley
“Candidates” (Washington Square Review)Megan Tucker
“New Years in La Calera” (EPOCH), Cristina Fries
“Six Months New” (New England Review), Celeste Mohammed
“Stay Brave, My Hercules” (McSweeney’s), Ernie Wang
“The Crazies” (One Story), Maud Streep
“Videoteca Fin del Mundo” (Black Warrior Review), Ava Tomasula y Garcia
“Zombie Horror” (The Baltimore Review), Drew McCutchen

2017
“Galina” (Fifth Wednesday Journal),  Angela Ajayi 
“The Handler” (Southwest Review),  Amber Caron 
“Tell Me, Please” (The Common), Emily Chammah 
“The Asphodel Meadow” (The Summerset Review), Jim Cole 
“Solee” (The Southern Review), Crystal Hana Kim 
“The Manual Alphabet” (Fence), Samuel Clare Knights 
“Goldhawk” (The Malahat Review), Katherine Magyarody 
“A Modern Marriage” (Boston Review), Grace Oluseyi 
“1,000-Year-Old Ghosts” (Hyphen Magazine), Laura Chow Reeve 
“State Facts for the New Age” (The Rumpus), Amy Sauber 
“A Message” (Epiphany: A Literary Journal), Ruth Serven 
“Edwin Chase of Nantucket” (Harvard Review), Ben Shattuck  

Frequently Asked Questions

Are writers still eligible if they have published poetry and/or nonfiction before?

Yes, so long as the story submitted is the writer’s first fiction publication. Writers who have published one or more books of poetry, nonfiction, or other writing which has undergone editorial review are ineligible for the prize.

The story I plan to submit does not fit the exact formatting specifications (Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, double-spaced). Do I need to reformat?

We understand that many literary journals publish stories according to their formatting conventions and that therefore, the style of the PDFs does not conform to the formatting specifications. If the copy is legible online and in hard copy, you do not need to reformat.

An author has previously published work on a blog or as a part of a school project. Are they still eligible?

An author becomes ineligible if the previous work underwent an editorial review process with a publication the author was not affiliated with academically or professionally. Blog posts that have not been reviewed by an editor do not render the writer ineligible.

The author I wish to nominate has a piece that was accepted to our magazine this year, but the story will be published next year. Can I still submit their work for the current awards cycle?

Submitted stories must be published in the calendar year prior to the corresponding Awards Ceremony. For example, for the 2020 awards cycle, stories must have been published in 2019 to be considered eligible. If the story is published in 2020, you may submit it for the 2021 awards cycle.

Can I submit PDFs from our forthcoming fall or winter issue?

Yes. You may submit PDFs for forthcoming stories as long as they are published by the end of the required calendar year.

If an author has only published one short story during their career but has self-published writing online or as a book, does that in any way interfere with the author’s eligibility for this prize?

This prize is for a writer’s first fiction publication that has gone through an editorial review process. If the self-published writing has generated significant sales or readership, please email [email protected] with the number of copies sold, years self-published, and other relevant information to confirm eligibility.

We’re publishing a debut short story as an e-book or anthology. Do you accept galleys?

An author would be ineligible if they are being published in a book with a press. Stories published in anthologies are ineligible.

Are the writers signing a contract with Catapult for First North American Serial Rights? Does this contract include digital rights?

Writers would sign with Catapult for nonexclusive, second serial rights for print and digital. All other rights will be retained by the author. It’ll be as author-friendly as it can get.

I’ve received an award/grant/scholarship for my writing, but have never been published. Am I still eligible?

Yes, so long as this is your first piece of fiction writing published that has also undergone editorial review.

What if my short story was first published in an anthology—does that count?

No, stories whose first publication is in an anthology are ineligible. Participating publications include literary magazines, journals, or cultural websites published on a recurring schedule.

The story I want to submit is written by a writer who has published a few stories in a language other than English, but this is their first publication in English. Is this story eligible?

No, the debut story has to be the writer’s first short story or piece of fiction ever published in any language that has undergone an editorial review process.

Previously, only U.S.-based publications were eligible. My journal is based in Australia. Are we eligible to submit our debut stories?

Yes, so long as the stories were originally published in English and meet all the eligibility requirements.