Best Debut Short Stories 2025

The PEN America Dau Prize

Part of PEN America

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Paperback
$16.95 US
On sale Dec 09, 2025 | 256 Pages | 9781646223152

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The essential annual guide to the newest voices in literature

Best Debut Short Stories celebrates the most promising short story writers today. Selected by a panel of distinguished judges, these eight stories are the 2025 winners of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, which recognizes outstanding debuts published in literary magazines.

Each story is accompanied by an introduction from the journal editor who first published it, providing insight about what’s exciting in fiction right now, and recognizing the vital work literary magazines do in nurturing new voices.

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The essential annual guide to the newest voices in literature

Best Debut Short Stories celebrates the most promising short story writers today. Selected by a panel of distinguished judges, these eight stories are the 2025 winners of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, which recognizes outstanding debuts published in literary magazines.

Each story is accompanied by an introduction from the journal editor who first published it, providing insight about what’s exciting in fiction right now, and recognizing the vital work literary magazines do in nurturing new voices.

Books for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Each May, we honor the stories, histories, and cultures of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Below is a selection of acclaimed fiction and nonfiction books by AANHPI creators to share with your students this month and throughout the year. Find our full collection of titles for Higher Education here.

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