From Sarabande Books’ announcement today:

We are pleased to announce the winner of the 2017 Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction judged by Paul Yoon is Tiny Heroes, Tiny Villains by Robert Yune.

This means Tiny Heroes will be published by Sarabande sometime in 2018.  Sarabande is one of the nation’s premiere independent publishers, and they’re also doing great education and advocacy work.  It took a long time to publish this collection, but I can’t imagine a better home.

As my former Readings students could tell you, I’m a huge fan of Paul Yoon–even taught Once the Shore a couple years ago.  If you missed my FB announcement, here it is:

If writing a novel is like creating a world you start to live in, then writing a short story collection is more like curating a museum exhibit. Putting together TINY HEROES, TINY VILLAINS meant meeting (and sometimes confronting) past versions of myself: the angry MFA candidate with something to prove, a young writer suddenly untethered from the conventions of writing workshops, a desperate adjunct professor adrift during a recession, a bored writer suddenly obsessed with breaking rules, and so on.
Any good exhibit could have its own exhibit displaying the countless researchers, archivists, librarians, and unlikely contributors who made it possible.
THTV had a long, winding path to publication, but over the past five years, one thing that will always amaze me is the unwavering support from my family and friends. Throughout the years, many of you saved these stories from my worst impulses and all of you encouraged me to become a better artist and person. I’m proud of these stories, but I’m even prouder that this book is a monument to all the wonderful people who made it possible.

There’s not enough room to name everyone here, but I do want to say that this book would not exist without Geeta Kothari, who saved it from being a malformed novel, literary hero Sarah Gorham, and judge extraordinaire Paul Yoon. Congratulations to all the finalists as well!