The Literary Debutante Ball is a benefit that celebrates One Story and salutes the publication of our literary debutantes’ first books. 

Now in its 16th year, the Literary Debutante Ball features cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live music and dancing. The highlight of this annual fundraiser is the formal “presentation” of One Story authors who have published their first books in the past year. The authors are escorted by one or more of their mentors: fellow authors, friends, and/or editors who have helped make their first books possible.

The ball is a joyous event that brings together all the different members of the One Story community: writers, readers, students, supporters, staff and fans.

Photo Credit: koitz

Our 2026 Debutantes

• Senaa Ahmad, The Age of Calamities, author of OS issue #331, “Our Lady of Resplendent Misfortune”
• Lily Berlin Dodd, The Last Ember, author of OTS issue #30, “A Eulogy for Pretzel”
• Stephen Fishbach, Escape!, author of OS issue #273, “To Sharks”
• Cay Kim, The Future Perfect, author of OS issue #336, “Secret”
• Lior Torenberg, Just Watch Me, author of OS issue #292, “Etymology”

Our 2026 Distinguished Alum: Lauren Groff

In addition to the Literary Debutantes, we’ll also be honoring a past One Story writer who has gone on to make a significant contribution to literature and the literary community. The 2026 Distinguished Alum is Lauren Groff, author of One Story Issue #112, “Sir Fleeting.”

Lauren Groff is The New York Times–bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won The Story Prize, the ABA Indies’ Choice Award, France’s Grand Prix de l’Héroïne, and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist three times for the National Book Award. She has held fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, the American Academy in Berlin, and the Guggenheim Foundation, was given the Howard D. Vursell Memorial Award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People list in 2024. Her work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere, and has been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, where she and her husband own the independent bookstore The Lynx. 

Photograph © Beowulf Sheehan

You can still make a difference.

Can’t be there in person? Join us in spirit! Use the button below to give a one-time donation today. All proceeds from the Ball will benefit One Story Inc., an award-winning, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit committed to supporting the art form of the short story and the authors who write them—through publication, education, community, and mentorship.

Covid Protocols

Masks are welcomed, but optional. Guests can take advantage of Roulette’s balcony seating, where masks will be requested, and where social distancing can be more easily maintained.