The Literary Debutante Ball is a benefit that celebrates One Story, honors our Literary Debutantes, and raises a glass to our 2016 Mentor of the Year, Jim Shepard. The ball will feature specialty cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, music from the Blue Vipers and DJ Reborn, and dancing.

The highlight of the ball will be the formal “presentation” of our Literary Debutantes: six One Story authors who have published their debut books in the past year.

2016 Debutantes:

Brian Booker, Are You Here for What I’m Here For? (Bellevue Literary Press)

Kim Brooks, The Houseguest (Counterpoint)

Matthew Cheney, Blood: Stories (Black Lawrence Press)

Charles Haverty, Excommunicados (University of Iowa Press)

Naomi Williams, Landfalls (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Cote Smith, Hurt People (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Each writer will be escorted by an established author and/or editor who has been a mentor to them.

All proceeds from the Ball will benefit One Story, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and aid its mission to celebrate the art form of the short story and support the writers who write them.

No one under 21 years old will be admitted. Tickets to the event are $100 and can be purchased at www.one-story.com.