In 1918 the Society of Arts and Sciences established the O. Henry Memorial Awards to reward the very best short stories published during the previous year with cash prizes. 1921 was a particularly productive year with sterling and brilliantly varied examples of the art of short story writing as are included here. The selection committee struggled to agree on these, but finally, here they are for us to enjoy and record. The length varies but most are sufficiently long for a reader to get their teeth into and enjoy. The stories are listed in a rough order of how they were judged, but all are excellent.