Mary Kuryla is the winner of this year’s AWP Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction for her collection, Freak Weather Stories.

In her comments, judge Amy Hempel writes,

There is a feral quality to some of these stories, an attitude that is truly startling. The language is perfectly matched to the not-so-conflicted women living off venison, weed, and their husband’s paychecks. The territory here is sometimes disturbing; the treatment of these people who are in over their heads is always both tough and surprisingly moving. The “action” resides as much in the brisk, fresh language as in what these people conjure in a crisis. Ultimately, the author delivers stories unlike anyone else’s.

See the announcement here.