Introduction / Amor Towles -- Roy / Emma Binder (Gulf Coast) -- The soccer balls of Mr. Kurz / Michele Mari ; translated from the Italian by Brian Robert Moore (The New Yorker) -- Orphans / Brad Felver (Subtropics) -- The home visit / Morris Collins (Subtropics) -- The import / Jai Chakrabarti (Ploughshares) -- Didi / Amber Caron (Electric Literature) -- Serranos / Francisco González (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern) -- Hiding spot / Caroline Kim (New England Review) -- Junior / Katherine D. Stutzman (Harvard Review) -- My good friend / Juliana Leite ; translated from the Portuguese by Zoë Perry (The Paris Review) -- The castle of Rose Tellin / Kate DiCamillo (Harper's Magazine) -- Rain / Colin Barrett (Granta) -- Marital problems / Robin Romm (The Sewanee Review) -- The last grownup / Allegra Goodman (The New Yorker) -- The honor of your presence / Dave Eggers (One Story) -- The paper artist / E. K. Ota (Ploughshares) -- The room-service waiter / Tom Crewe (Granta) -- Seeing through maps / Madeline ffitch (Harper's Magazine) -- The dark / Jess Walter (Ploughshares) -- Mobilization / Allegra Hyde (Story) -- The O. Henry Prize winners 2024: the writers on their work.