US writer Anthony Doerr wins short story prize

[April 09, 2011]  LONDON (AP) -- American author Anthony Doerr has beaten Booker Prize Winner Hilary Mantel and four other finalists to a lucrative short story prize.

The Boise, Idaho-based writer was awarded the 30,000 pound ($49,000) Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award Friday for "The Deep," a story set in Depression-era Detroit.

It was Doerr's second major prize in as many months. Last month, he won the $20,000 Story Prize for short fiction for the collection "Memory Wall."

The Sunday Times award -- judged by writers including A.S. Byatt and Will Self -- is billed as the world's most valuable prize for short stories.

The other finalists were Chinese-American writer Yiyun Li and Britons Mantel, Gerard Woodward, Will Cohu and Roshi Fernando.

[Associated Press]

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