The Center for Fiction unveiled the shortlist for its First Novel Prize, with books by Douglas Stuart, Raven Leilani, and C Pam Zhang making the cut.
Stuart’s Shuggie Bain, about a troubled Scottish family in the 1980s, continued its streak of award nominations with its appearance on the shortlist. The novel is also a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and longlisted for the National Book Award.
Leilani’s Luster (also a Kirkus Prize finalist) made the list, along with Zhang’s How Much of These Hills Is Gold, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Both Leilani and Zhang were recently honored by the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” program.
Two small-press books made the shortlist: Hilary Leichter’s Temporary, published by Coffee House imprint Emily Books, and Corey Sobel’s The Redshirt, published by the University Press of Kentucky.
Rounding out the shortlist are Amina Cain’s Indelicacy and Maisy Card’s These Ghosts Are Family.
The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize was first awarded in 2006, to Marisha Pessl’s Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Previous winners have included Karl Marlantes’ Matterhorn, Margaret Wrinkle’s Wash, and Tommy Orange’s There There.
This year’s award, which comes with a cash prize of $15,000, will be presented at the Center for Fiction’s (virtual) awards benefit on Dec. 3.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
