Maurice Carlos Ruffins wins two short story prizes

Local writer Maurice Carlos Ruffin recently won two national story prizes, earning him prestige and acclaim (and a nice chunk of change).

Ruffin’s story “The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You” was selected by novelist Rachel Kushner for the 2014 Iowa Review Award. It will be published in the winter issue of the Iowa Review in December. (Incidentally, Kushner, the author most recently of The Flamethrowers, is a friend ofRoom 220, though we promise there was no collusion; read the Room 220 interview with Kushnerhere.)

At the same time, Ruffin’s story “The Anchor Song” won the 2014 So To Speak contest, selected by Charles Blackstone, who’s a novelist and the managing editor of Bookslut. That story will appear in the fall 2014 issue of So To Speak.

Ruffin’s work has appeared previously in Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas, the Apalachee Review, Regarding Arts & Letters, Ellipsis, South Carolina Review, and other places. He is a graduate of the University of New Orleans MFA program and an attorney.

This article was reposted from Press Street: Room 220, a NolaVie content partner.