Whiley’s ‘feat’ of a short story wins Moth Short Story Prize

Jude Whiley has been announced as the winner of this year’s Moth Short Story Prize, for The Brain Named Itself.
Judged by author Ottessa Moshfegh, the story will be published in the summer fiction series of the Irish Times. Whiley, who was also commended in last year’s Moth Short Story Prize, judged by Sarah Hall, also receives €3,000 (£2,580).

Moshfegh said of the winning entry, which takes two adolescent sisters as its subject: “I’ve never seen a story that credits adolescents with the actual depth they deserve. This story reaches far and wide as much as it turns intimately towards its tenderly dogmatic characters.

“And it is so wonderfully fluid in its swerves and the vacillating scope of its attentions, from war to drugs to toxic algae to moral principles. I was seduced by the writing and its colours and acuity, and moved by the story’s sincerity and wisdom. What a feat, and what a joy to read!”

Whiley recently completed an MA in Creative Writing, and works as a freelance writer. His non-fiction has been published in WIRED, and his fiction was first published in The Moth last year. 

He said: “To win this prize at the start of my career is a serious honour. I don’t have an agent or editor. My only readers are my grandpa and my girlfriend. To get this encouragement from Ottessa, whose work I admire, and The Moth, is special."

British author Paul Currion’s story, Upright Carriage, was awarded second prize – a week at the luxury writing retreat, Circle of Misse, in France– and American Natalie Bevilacqua’s story The Body was awarded a third prize of €1,000 (£860). Their stories appear in the Irish Times online.