Short story award goes to American writer

AMERICAN writer Ron Rash was last night named the winner of the 2010 Cork City – Frank O’Connor Short Story Award for his collection Burning Bright.

Rash was presented with the award – at €35,000, the world’s richest for the short story form – by O’Connor’s daughter Liadin O’Donovan at a reception at the Metropole Hotel. The presentation marked the close of the Frank O’Connor Short Story Festival, which has run in Cork since Wednesday.

“We don’t get this kind of thing at home,” said Rash. “It’s been a great week here in Cork, and there’s no country I would rather have got an award from.”