The Vandercook is included in the PEN/O. HENRY Prize Stories of 2012

I’m excited to announce that my Bennington instructor Alice Mattison’s short story, The Vandercook, is included in the 2012 edition of the PEN/O. HENRY Prize Stories compilation. Congratulations, Alice!

The Vandercook is a can’t-miss piece of fiction; Alice read it during our time in Provinctown last summer and the story’s power is both subtle and lasting. Pick up a copy at your local bookstore or online. In the meantime, have a read of the opening paragraph:

When Molly and I had been married for thirteen years—splendid Molly, difficult Molly—she took over Conte’s Printing, a New Haven business my grandfather had started in the thirties. My father ran it when I was a child, and I spent much of my time in the shop. A teenage boy, Gilbert, ran errands for my father after school and also kept an eye on me. When I was in college I fooled around on the letterpress printer my grandfather had used, and Gilbert, who still worked there, teased me for caring about something old-fashioned. He was a shy black kid from New Haven’s Hill neighborhood who had grown into a moody guy who worked closely with my father all week and played the saxophone at New Haven clubs on weekends. A few years ago, Dad finally had to retire when he broke his hip carrying a box of newly xeroxed pages to a customer’s car. By then, Gil had been his manager for years.

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Be sure to pick up a copy!