Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction 1991 Robert Halsall Abel (May 27, 1941, in Painesville, Ohio – April 14, 2017, in Hadley, Massachusetts) was an American short story writer, and novelist.

[2] Abel graduated from College of Wooster cum laude in 1964 with a B.A., Kansas State University with a M.A.

[3][4] In 1968, he signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.

[5] His work appeared in Colorado Review, Dim Sum, Glimmer Train, Manoa, The Massachusetts Review, Mind's Eye, and Writers' Forum.

He died at his home in Hadley, Massachusetts, on April 14, 2017.