Roy Kesey Wins Mary McCarthy Prize
Literary House Associate Director's Book Selected for Major National Short Fiction Award
The new book, LORE, by Roy Kesey '91 P'27, associate director of Washington College’s Rose O'Neill Literary House, has won the 2025 Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction from Sarabande Books. The prize is one of the most prestigious and competitive literary awards offered by an independent press in the United States.
LORE is a powerful story about an isolated, 76-year-old widow named Lore, who years ago chose seclusion to shield herself from a past filled with guilt and pain. The narrative finds Lore during the pandemic, which has only intensified her isolation. As her mind and body begin to fail, the importance of human connection becomes tragically clear, forcing her to confront a central question: who will she become once her protective armor of seclusion falls away? Following in the literary tradition set by authors like Claire Keegan, Cormac McCarthy, and Denis Johnson, the book raises the question: in a world undone, is our best hope for survival actually each other?
Kesey’s winning manuscript was selected by judge Ed Park, who lauded the work in his citation.
“One of the most resolutely interior books I've read in a while—everything filtered through a beautifully calibrated close third person—LORE is about loneliness, endurance, and the mercies of language,” Park said. “It reads like Cormac McCarthy had written Log of the S.S. The Mrs. Unguentine [by Stanley Crawford].”
LORE is scheduled for publication by Sarabande Books in May 2027.
Upon receiving the news, Kesey, who is also a visiting assistant professor of English and creative writing, expressed his excitement at joining the publisher’s celebrated roster of authors.
“Sarabande has published so many of my favorite authors over the years—Lydia Davis, Paul Yoon, Mary Reufle, Ander Monson, Louise Glück, not to mention upcoming Lit House visiting author Maya Popa,” Kesey commented. “I’m thrilled to be part of that group and so glad to be working with Sarabande to publish my dark little love letter to the Eastern Shore.”
"The Mary McCarthy Prize is a highly competitive and respected award, and Roy's win is a powerful testament to his exceptional talent and dedication,” said Provost Kiho Kim. "Roy’s success in fiction and the recent national honors received by Literary House Director James Allen Hall reaffirm that our students are learning from two of the nation's most accomplished working writers. Moreover, their excellence inspires our students to pursue their creative aspirations with passion and determination."
Kesey brings a wealth of experience to Washington College. In addition to LORE, he is the author of a novel, a novella, two short story collections, and a historical guidebook, and is the translator of two Pola Oloixarac novels: Savage Theories and Dark Constellations. Kesey has received a National Endwoment for the Arts grant for fiction and a PEN/Heim grant for translation. His stories, essays, poems, and translations have been featured in over a hundred magazines and anthologies, including Best American Short Stories and the Norton anthologies New Sudden Fiction: Short-Short Stories from America and Beyond and New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction.
Visit the Rose O’Neill Literary House webpage for more information on the mission, author events, and the opportunities they offer to young writers.
- Dominique Ellis Falcon