David Means is the winner of the 2025 PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced in a news release.
Means made his literary debut in 1991 with the short story collection A Quick Kiss of Redemption, following that up nine years later with Assorted Fire Events, which won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award.
His other collections include The Secret Goldfish, The Spot, Instructions for a Funeral, and, most recently, Two Nurses, Smoking. He is also the author of a novel, Hystopia.
Jung Yun, the chair of PEN/Faulkner’s Malamud committee, said, “[Means’] six collections to date serve to remind readers how finely observed, emotionally compelling, and formally inventive a short story can be, particularly in the hands of a craftsperson like Means who possesses such a clear understanding of the powers and pleasures of the form.”
In a statement, Means said, “The short story feels intrinsic to the human condition, as natural as drinking water or sharing love. It’s a singular tool for probing the human experience, illuminating the universals of who we are. The form also feels especially suited to exploring the nature of life in the United States: a country vast and varied, best captured in the precise, revealing glimpses stories can offer.”
The Malamud Award was established in 1988. Previous winners include Edwidge Danticat, Lydia Davis, John Edgar Wideman, and Jhumpa Lahiri.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
