The Aspen Institute announced the finalists for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, given annually to “a work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture.”
Angie Cruz made the shortlist for her novel How Not To Drown in a Glass of Water, about a Dominican woman in New York searching for work while dealing with debt and gentrification.
Oscar Hokeah was named a finalist for his debut novel, Calling for a Blanket Dance, about a man of Native American and Mexican descent trying to find his place in the world. Also making the shortlist was Sarah Thankam Mathews for All This Could Be Different, which follows a young immigrant from India living in Milwaukee; the novel was previously a finalist for the National Book Award.
Two story collections made the shortlist: Manuel Muñoz’s The Consequences, which focuses on Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans living in California, and Jamil Jan Kochai’s National Book Award finalist The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories, about Afghans living in Afghanistan and the U.S.
The Aspen Words Literary Prize was launched in 2018. Past winners have included Mohsin Hamid for Exit West, Louise Erdrich for The Night Watchman, and Dawnie Walton for The Final Revival of Opal & Nev.
The winner of the award, which comes with a $35,000 cash prize, will be announced on April 19 at the Morgan Library in New York.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
