Kalanithi Fiction Award

The Palliative Care Section is pleased to announce a solicitation for short stories or poems with themes of facing chronic or life limiting illness in honor of Paul Kalanithi.  Paul passed too soon, but left a wonderful legacy in the form of his memoir, When Breath Becomes Air.  His creativity and commitment to finding meaning in the experience of illness inspired this award.

Short story entries should be less than 2500 words and poems should be less than 50 lines. The winner will receive not only the admiration of his or her colleagues, but also a small honorarium.  We have found some great and accomplished literary judges, including Abraham Verghese, who will provide a brief commentary on the top three entries. Stanford community entries are encouraged, but anybody can submit their work. We will also feature the work on our website. So send your unpublished prose and poems to Joy Li (joyli@stanford.edu) by November 1st!