The National Book Foundation announced the latest class in its 5 Under 35 program, which honors “ five fiction writers under the age of 35 whose debut work promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape.”
The authors honored by the program are selected by writers who previously have been honored by the foundation, either as a National Book Award finalist or winner, or as a 5 Under 35 honoree.
Antonia Angress (Sirens & Muses) was selected for the program by author Charles Baxter, while Alejandro Varela chose Hangman author Maya Binyam for the honor.
Zain Khalid, who won the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Award for his debut novel, Brother Alive, was the pick of Laila Lalami, and Tiphanie Yanique selected Tyriek White, whose We Are a Haunting won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.
Rounding out the new class is Jenny Tinghui Zhang (Four Treasures of the Sky), who was selected by Adam Johnson.
Ruth Dickey, the executive director of the National Book Foundation, said in a statement, “The 2024 5 Under 35 honorees are debut authors of extraordinary promise, and we are immensely grateful to our selectors for shining a light on these brilliant literary talents. We look forward to celebrating these new and necessary voices in fiction at the very start of their careers, and to champion, together, the many stories to come.”
The new class will be celebrated at a ceremony at the Brooklyn Museum on May 9, hosted by Late Night With Seth Meyers writer and comedian Karen Chee.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
