Hearty congratulations to the shortlisted authors of the Center for Fiction 2023 First Novel Prize. Chosen from a longlist of twenty-five debut novels published in the U.S. this calendar year, the seven titles (and authors!) listed below will be celebrated at the Center’s First Novel Fête on December 1. The winner will be announced on December 5 at the Center for Fiction’s Annual Awards Benefit.
Started in 2006 to honor exceptional debut fiction of the year and to help build literary careers, the Center’s First Novel Prize includes a $15,000 cash prize for the winner and $1,000 for each of the other shortlisted authors. The judges for this year’s award are Hannah Lillith Assadi, Ayana Mathis, Tochi Onyebuchi, and Deesha Philyaw. The Center for Fiction is a literary nonprofit “that brings diverse communities together to develop and share a passion for fiction.” Previous winners of this award include Raven Leilani (Luster), Noor Naga (If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English), and Kirstin Valdez Quade (The Five Wounds). Best of luck to this year’s First Novel Prize shortlisted writers!
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
Ecco, August 2023
Lookout by Christine Byl
A Strange Object, March 2023
Pay As You Go by Eskor David Johnson
McSweeney’s, October 2023
Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks
Algonquin Books, January 2023
Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton
Ecco, January 2023
We Are a Haunting by Tyriek White
Astra House, April 2023
Y/N by Esther Yi
Astra House, March 2023