the award was first given in 1919. money to support the award comes from the society of arts and sciences. as of 2003, the series editor chooses twenty short stories and each one is called an o. henry prize story. all stories originally written in english and published in an american or canadian magazine can possibly win. three people become jurors each year. the jurors get the twenty prize stories in text form. the author or publication name are not listed. each juror works alone and chooses one special short story and comments on it.