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

Now in its 15th 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 2025 Debutantes

• Nini Berndt, There Are Reasons for This, author of OS issue #323, “Empress”
• Kerry Cullen, House of Beth, author of OTS issue #33, “Flight Feathers”
• Carrie R. Moore, Make Your Way Home, author of OS issue #283, “Naturale”
• Lucas Schaefer, The Slip, author of OS issue #225, “An Oral History of the Next Battle of the Sexes”
• Jackie Thomas-Kennedy, The Other Wife, author of OS issue #276, “Extinction”
• Lauren K. Watel, Book of Potions, author of OS issue #321, “Trampoline”
• Julian Zabalbeascoa, What We Tried to Bury Grows Here, author of OS issue #286, “A Life Anew”

Our 2025 Distinguished Alum: Min Jin Lee

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 2025 Distinguished Alum is Min Jin Lee, author of One Story Issue #222, “The Quality of Your Life.”

Min Jin Lee is the author of the novels Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko, a finalist for the National Book Award, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and a New York Times “100 Best Books of the Century.” Lee is the 2024 recipient of The Fitzgerald Prize for Literary Excellence. From South Korea, Lee has received the Manhae Grand Prize for Literature, the Bucheon Diaspora Literary Award, and the Samsung Happiness for Tomorrow Award for Creativity. She is the recipient of fellowships in Fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Lee is an inductee of the New York Foundation for the Arts Hall of Fame and the New York State Writers Hall of Fame. Lee served as the Editor of Best American Short Stories 2023. Lee’s essays and criticism have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Wall Street Journal, Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Vogue, and The Times of London. She is a Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College. She is at work on her third novel, American Hagwon and a nonfiction work, Name Recognition.

Photo Credit: HaeRan of ChannelYES

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.