The Kirkus Prize, one of the most prestigious and lucrative literary awards globally, has unveiled its finalists for 2024, per lithub.com. This annual award honours three outstanding titles that received a starred review from Kirkus upon publication. Winners in the categories of fiction, nonfiction and children’s literature will each receive a substantial prize of $50,000.
Fiction Finalists
The fiction category features a diverse array of voices and narratives. The finalists are:
– Jennine Capó Crucet for Say Hello to My Little Friend (Simon & Schuster)
– Louise Erdrich for The Mighty Red (Harper/HarperCollins)
– Percival Everett for James (Doubleday)
– Richard Powers for Playground (W. W. Norton)
– Rufi Thorpe for Margot’s Got Money Troubles (William Morrow/HarperCollins)
– Paul Lynch for Prophet Song (Grove)
The fiction jury includes Christine Bollow, co-owner and director of programmes for Loyalty Bookstores, Jeffrey Burke, a former editor at Harper’s, and Kirkus fiction editor Laurie Muchnick.
Nonfiction Finalists
The nonfiction category showcases compelling and thought-provoking works:
– Steve Coll for The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq (The Penguin Press)
– Adam Higginbotham for Challenger: A True Story of Heroism And Disaster on the Edge of Space (Avid Reader Press)
– Tessa Hulls for Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir (MCD/FSG)
– Olivia Laing for The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise (W.W. Norton)
– Shefali Luthra for Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America (Doubleday)
– Carvell Wallace for Another Word for Love: A Memoir (MCD/FSG)
The nonfiction jury comprises journalist and author/illustrator Hannah Bae, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Mary Ann Gwinn, and Kirkus editor-in-chief Tom Beer.
Young Readers Finalists
The young readers’ category is divided into picture books, middle grade, and young adult:
-Picture Books: Joanna Ho and Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya for We Who Produce Pearls (Scholastic/Orchard), Jason Reynolds and the Pumphrey brothers for There Was a Party for Langston (Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum)
– Middle Grade: Hiba Noor Khan for Safiyyah’s War (Allida/HarperCollins), Sherri Winston for Shark Teeth (Bloomsbury)
– Young Adult: Kenneth M. Cadow for Gather (Candlewick), Safia Elhillo for Bright Red Fruit (Random House/Make Me a World)
The young readers’ jury includes Christopher A. Biss-Brown, Michelle H. Martin, and Kirkus young readers’ editors Mahnaz Dar and Laura Simeon.
Kirkus editor-in-chief Tom Beer praised this year’s finalists, stating, “They’re all books that speak to our time, and we know they’ll be read for years to come.”
The winners will be announced at an in-person ceremony in New York on Wednesday, October 16.
