Page:O Henry Prize Stories of 1924.djvu/13

 

INTRODUCTION

This volume results from a cumulative process of elimination and attrition. Six readers selected from American magazines of 1924 (January to November, inclusive) more than six hundred stories by American authors. Two readers, who are members of the annual committee of judges, chose the best third of these and submitted them to two other judges, whose ratings were recorded with those of the first two. Out of two hundred, thirty-six ranked highest in the opinions of these four judges. Three additional judges read these thirty-six. Twenty-four stories survived.

The following plan indicates the degrees and proportions of responsibility.

R	$\scriptstyle {\left\{{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right.}$	1. Niña Jay Dusenberry
E		2. Shirley V. Long
A		3. Emma K. Temple
D		4. Isabel Walker
E		5. Blanche Cotton Williams	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	ANNUAL COMMITTEE	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$	J U D G E S
R		6. Frances Gilchrist Wood
S		7. Edward J. Erwin
		8. Robert L. Ramsay
		9. Ellis Parker Butler
		10. Ethel Watts Mumford
		11. Allan Nevins

Readers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Annual Committee: 5, 6, 7, 8.

Judges: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

Ethel Watts Mumford and Blanche Colton Williams (Chairman) have served six years in judging stories and awarding prizes offered by the Society of Arts and Sciences. Frances Gilchrist Wood has served four years. Edward J. Erwin, instructor of short-story writing in Davidson College,

vii