Two books have won the Gotham Book Prize, given each year to “the best book published that calendar year—either fiction or nonfiction—that either is about New York City or takes place in New York City.”
This is the first time in the prize’s three-year history that two titles have been named winners.
Sidik Fofana was named a winner for his collection, Stories From the Tenants Downstairs, set in a high-rise housing complex in Harlem. In a starred review of the book, a critic for Kirkus wrote, “A potentially significant voice in African American fiction asserts itself with wit and compassion.”
John Wood Sweet was also awarded the prize for his nonfiction book The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America, which tells the story of a teenage seamstress in 1793 who accused a man of rape. The book previously won the Bancroft Prize and the New York Society Library’s New York City Book Award.
Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson, the prize’s co-founders, said in a statement, “We started the Gotham Book Prize during the pandemic to encourage writers to share unique stories about New York, and both of these books have accomplished exactly this. We expect both to be cemented in the canon of great New York City books.”
The prize usually comes with a $50,000 cash award; this year, each winner will receive $35,000. The previous winners of the award were James McBride for Deacon King Kong and Andrea Elliott for Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
