Kaylie Borden O’Brien is the winner of the inaugural Commonweal Prize for Short Fiction, judged by National Book Award–winning author Alice McDermott. Selecting O’Brien’s work out of a pool of more than 75 submissions, McDermott described “Just Passing Through” as a story that “wittily, and disturbingly, illustrates the moment even as it evokes a timeless sense of dread." 

In this brief interview, O’Brien discusses her prize-winning story with special projects editor Miles Doyle.