American writer and film maker Miranda July won the third annual Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award at a ceremony in the Millennium Hall, Cork, last night.
July was in Cork to receive the award for her recently-published debut collection No One Belongs Here More Than You.
The other shortlisted authors attended the ceremony and gave readings at the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival which took place in the city over the past week.
Born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger, in Vermont in 1974, but choosing to work under the adopted surname, July, she is also a performance artist, musician, actress and film maker.
July was raised in Berkeley, California and grew up in a literary family with both of her parents carving out careers as writers. She attended University of California Santa Cruz before dropping out and moving to Portland, Oregon, where she began to work successfully, initially as a performance artist before moving on to a variety of other artistic disciplines.
Enthusiasts describe July's collection of stories as "gems of unconventional storytelling". Her prose they say has a conversational tone, sounding like overheard bus conversations. No One Belongs Here More Than Youis a 224-page collection of her stories which was published last May.
Festival director Pat Cotter said: "The award has been won by a book of original genius, a book which we believe will endure for a long time."
The other shortlisted authors were: British writer Simon Robson (The Separate Heart); Olaf Olafsson, from Iceland, (Valentines); Israeli writer Etgar Keret, (Missing Kissinger); Charlotte Grimshaw, from New Zealand, (Opportunity); and Manuel Muñoz, from the USA, (The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue).
The award of €35,000, funded by Cork City Council in association with The Irish Times, is the largest short story prize in the world and is now in its third year.