Shelby McDonald is a writer living in New York City

Get to
know me

Shelby McDonald is a writer from Berkeley, California. She holds an MFA in fiction from the New School and teaches creative writing in schools around New York City. She is currently at work on her first novel.

Writing

  • Shelby’s debut short story was published in The North American Review’s Fall 2025 issue and is forthcoming in Catapult’s Best Debut Short Stories 2026.

    Read it here: https://northamericanreview.org/node/18348

  • A personal essay forthcoming in The Missouri Review, Winter 2026.

  • A novel in progress.

Recognition

Emerging Artist Grant & Residency, Chateau d'Orquevaux

2027

Artist-in-residence, Chateau Saint-Pierre de Mejans

2027

PEN America/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers

2026

New York State Summer Writers Institute Fellow

2024

The Moth StorySLAM Winner

2022

Contact

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