The Gotham Book Prize, an annual award that began during the first year of the pandemic to honour and support the best writing about New York City, has announced 11 finalists for the 2023 edition.
“There’s no other city that has the diversity, vibrancy, and culture of New York, and the Gotham Book Prize is once again going to honour an author who has captured the remarkable character of our city,” said Gotham Book Prize co-founders Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson in a press release as reported by LitHub. “While the darkest days of the pandemic are behind us, our cultural community is still recovering. By highlighting these 11 outstanding books and awarding one author a $50,000 prize, we hope to support and encourage even more writers to share the unique stories of our city in the years to come.”
Here are this year’s finalists:
Activities of Daily Living, Lisa Hsiao Chen
An Honest Living, Dwyer Murphy
Big Girl, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta, James Hannaham
Olga Dies Dreaming, Xochitl Gonzalez
Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion, Bushra Rehman
The Deceptions, Jill Bialosky
The Sewing Girl’s Tale, John Wood Sweet
Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, Sidik Fofana
Three Muses, Martha Anne Toll
Trust, Hernan Diaz
The winner will be chosen by a jury of “leading New Yorkers and authors” including Stephanie Danler, Tom Healy, Melissa Rivero, and Safiya Sinclair, and will receive $50,000 at an event at P&T Knitwear this spring.
