Saturday, October 06, 2007

2007 Frank O'Connor Short Story award winner

Miranda July has won the 2007 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, presented in Cork and sponsored by Cork City Council and the Munster Literature Centre in association with the Irish Times . She is the third winner of the richest short story prize.

Her collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You (Canongate) was praised as "a book of original genius", "a book which we believe will endure for a long time."

In this debut collection of short stories, July introduces the possibility of a moment that can change everything. July's characters are awkward and often remote, yet they are also profoundly sympathetic. With great compassion and generosity she reveals the idiosyncrasies, vulnerability, longing, and odd logic that govern our lives.

Previous winners of this prestigious award were Yiyun Li for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2005) and Haruki Marukami for Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (2006).

MIRANDA JULY grew up in Berkeley, California, where she began her career performing her plays at the local punk club. She is now an internationally acclaimed filmmaker and performing artist. She wrote, directed, and starred in her first feature-length film, Me and You and Everyone We Know, which won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Camera d'Or at Cannes, among others. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

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