Published: Jan 12, 2007
New York City writer Douglas Danoff won the first Danahy Fiction Prize from the
Tampa Review when his story was chosen from more than 200 entries from around the globe.
“It was unanimous,” said Dr. Richard Mathews,
Tampa Review director.
The editors awarded the prize to Danoff for his story “The Trader Thief,” his first submission to the literary magazine
. The writer will receive a prize of $1,000, and the story will appear in
Tampa Review 33/34, to come out this spring. The UT Press publishes the magazine twice a year in hardcover format.
The
Danahy Fiction Prize was established by UT alumni Paul ‘51 and Georgia
Reed Danahy ’52 with an endowment to provide an annual award for a
previously unpublished work of short fiction judged by the editors of
Tampa Review. The award is meant to complement The Tampa Review Prize for Poetry.
“For
us, it’s a special prize because it was established by UT alumni,”
Mathews said. “It’s the first fiction prize we’ve offered, and it’s one
of only a few in Florida. It’s a chance to follow the Danahys’ lead in
making
Tampa Review better known and in fostering quality literature.”
All entrants received a one-year subscription to
Tampa Review, and
copies were sent as far away as Canada and Australia. The prize already
has increased the magazine’s exposure and reputation in the literary
fiction world.
“That’s an additional 200 people now seeing
Tampa Review,” Mathews said. “Getting these in the hands of all new readers is more important than I had realized when I started the contest.”
While Danoff’s work has not yet been published in
Tampa Review, it has appeared or is forthcoming in
Wine Spectator,
The New York Times and
The Jerusalem Post.
He also has been nominated for numerous prestigious literary prizes,
including the 2006 Pushcart Prize in nonfiction. After graduating from
college, Danoff developed his writing as an employee for
The New Yorker.“There
I came across old back issues and book-length collections which exposed
me to the essays of E.B. White, whose great humor and humanity—and
devotion to the beauty and importance of small things—showed me a
kindred spirit and later influenced my writing,” Danoff said.
Danahy hoped the contest would draw more first-time contributors like Danoff, he said, and attract more subscribers to
Tampa Review. A
subscriber himself, Danahy studied history and English at the
University before going on to become Assistant Florida Attorney General,
but his love of literature dates back further than that.
“I’ve
always been a reader from my momma’s lap on,” Danahy said. “Reading in
general, and fiction in particular, is a great self-teacher.”
For more information about the Danahy Prize, contact Dr. Richard Mathews or Sean Donnelly at (813) 253-6266 or
utpress@ut.edu.