The longlist for the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Prize has been announced, with 32 authors in contention for the award given to “a mid-career author of fiction in the midst of a burgeoning career, a distinguished writer who has emerged and is still emerging.”
Rumaan Alam, the author of Leave the World Behind and Entitlement, made the longlist, alongside Miranda July (All Fours), R.O. Kwon (Exhibit), Tommy Orange (There There), and Danzy Senna (Colored Television).
Jami Attenberg (All This Could Be Yours) was nominated for the prize, as were Marie-Helene Bertino (Beautyland), Venita Blackburn (Dead in Long Beach, California), Rita Bullwinkel (Headshot), Ryan Chapman (Riots I Have Known), Kirkus Prize finalist Jennine Capó Crucet (Say Hello to My Little Friend), Leif Enger (Peace Like a River), Amina Gautier (The Best That You Can Do), and Thomas Grattan (In Tongues).
The other writers making the longlist are Abby Geni, Cristina Henríquez, Maria Hummel, Porochista Khakpour, Crystal Hana Kim, Lisa Ko, Caroline Leavitt, Hilary Leichter, Sarah Manguso, Chigozie Obioma, Kimberly King Parsons, Julia Phillips, Andrew Porter, Regina Porter, Rudy Ruiz, Morgan Talty, Laura van den Berg, and Willy Vlautin.
The Joyce Carol Oates Prize was established by the New Literary Project. Previous winners have included T. Geronimo Johnson, Laila Lalami, and Manuel Muñoz.
The shortlist for the prize will be revealed in March, with the winner announced in April.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
