Zhenglong Yang has won McSweeney’s Stephen Dixon Award for Short Fiction, which “recognizes emerging fiction writers who are experimenting with form and expanding the boundaries of storytelling.”
Yang won the prize for his story “The Bluest Ash,” which McSweeney’s Quarterly will publish in its fall 2026 issue. He will also receive a $2,000 cash prize.
The award was judged by author Catherine Lacey (Biography of X, The Möbius Book), who wrote that Yang’s story “troubles the line between logic and mystery, between the visible world and the spiritual one, between the seeming chaos of nature, and the apparent logic of society, human decisions, and ancient customs."
“Receiving the 2026 Stephen Dixon Award is a huge encouragement,” Yang said in a statement. “‘The Bluest Ash’” is very close to my heart, and I’m so delighted that it will appear in McSweeney’s Quarterly’s fall issue and reach your readers. The next time I feel self-doubt, which happens every day, I’ll remind myself that you’ve done this, and all I have to do is buckle down and work as hard as I can.”
The Stephen Dixon Award, first given in 2024, is named after the prolific author of books including Interstate and Gould, and who died in 2019 at age 83. In January, McSweeney’s announced that it will be releasing two previously unpublished books by Dixon as well as reissuing some of his other works.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
