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Ramona Reeves of Austin, Texas, is the 2022 winner of the 51��Ʒ��Ƶ’s Drue Heinz Literature Prize, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for a collection of short stories. Reeves' debut book, “It Falls Gently All Around,” was selected by novelist Elizabeth Graver. The 51��Ʒ��Ƶ Press will publish her book next fall.

Happiness and connection are fickle in this collection of 11 linked stories featuring Babbie, a thrice-divorced former call girl, and Donnie, a sobriety-challenged trucker turned yogi. Along with their community of exes, in-laws and co-workers, Babbie and Donnie share a longing to forge better lives and leave behind their pasts. That’s easier said than done in Mobile, an old city settled first by indigenous people, explored by the Spanish in the 1500s and settled again by the French in 1702.

"I grew up in Mobile and became intrigued with writing about class in this setting as a way to explore it in the South, and hopefully, elsewhere," said Reeves. "In these stories specifically, I wondered about the ways different classes might intersect or repel."

Reeves’ writing has also appeared in The Southampton Review, New South, Bayou Magazine, Texas Highways and elsewhere.