Author Yiyun Li shortlisted for Story Prize
Gold Boy, which is set mostly in California-based Li's native China, is a collection of nine stories exploring broken lives.
Idaho author Anthony Doerr is also a nominee for his latest work, the six-story collection Memory Wall.
Rounding out the short list is Boston-based Suzanne Rivecca, whose debut, Death Is Not An Option, is a book of seven stories with female protagonists.
The three finalists were chosen from 85 books submitted by publishers and released in 2010.
Li, Doerr and Rivecca will be celebrated at a public reading and awards gala in New York on March 2, when prize founder Julie Lindsey will announce the winner. Each runner-up will receive $5,000 US.
The Story Prize was established in 2004 to pay tribute to outstanding short fiction written in English and published in the U.S. Past winners have included Daniyal Mueenuddin, Edwidge Danticat, Patrick O'Keeffe, Mary Gordon, Jim Shepard and Tobias Wolff. Toronto author and emergency physician Vincent Lam was shortlisted for his 2007 collection Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures.