The late Michael M. Rea, a publisher and collector of art and first-edition short stories, established the Rea Award in 1986 to honor a living United States or Canadian writer who has made significant contribution to the short story form. The award, the only one of its kind (exclusively for short fiction, that is), is administered by the Dungannon Foundation, a name Rea chose as a tribute to his Irish heritage, from which he is said to have drawn his love of the short story. Since its inception, however, Rea has left the judging process for the award to the discretion of three notable literary figures. This year's jurors were writers Deborah Eisenberg, Alice Munro and Joy Williams.

Gallant, an only child born in 1922, has been described by Booklist as "a master of the short story who breaks every rule of the form." The eighty-year-old author will have a new collection of stories compiled by best-selling author Michael Ondaatje published by The New York Review of Books in November 2002 entitled, Paris Stories. Paris has long been the author's home, although she has retained her Canadian citizenship over the years. She often writes of expatriates and themes of dislocation. Her collection, Home Truths, won a Governor General's Award in 1981.