Librarian and Associate Professor Helen Georgas has been selected as the runner-up for the 2025 Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction for her manuscript Inventory, a collection of short stories. The award is sponsored by the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP). In her debut book, Georgas shares short stories that follow two Greek sisters—Eleanor and Theodora—growing up in their family’s restaurant on Lake Huron. The narrative threads through their experiences working in the restaurant as they navigate cultural tensions between Greece and Canada, class dynamics, and issues of adolescence, identity, and gender. The Grace Paley Prize honors outstanding collections of short fiction and includes a $5,500 cash award and publication by Mad Creek Books, an imprint of Ohio State University Press. Named in tribute to the acclaimed writer Grace Paley, the prize celebrates bold and original voices in short fiction. Georgas serves as the librarian for American Studies; English; Global Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Performance and Interactive Media Arts (PIMA); and Theater. Her recent writing explores themes of art, culture, and performance, and her academic research has examined undergraduate research habits and the impact of e-books on library culture, with work published in numerous scholarly journals. In addition to her academic and literary achievements, Georgas is an editor at Underwater New York, a digital platform showcasing creative work inspired by New York City’s waterways.
