Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
Encyclopedia
The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize is an annual award presented by The Center for Fiction, a non-profit organization in New York City, to the best debut novel
. Publishers nominate English-language works by first-time United States novelists. There is a two-tiered selection process for the prize. First, the nominees are read by a network of booklovers (referred to as Common Readers), including librarians, writers, staff, members, and friends of The Center for Fiction, giving rise to a long list of recommended books. Next, the Common Readers' long list is forwarded to a committee of distinguished American writers, who select a short list, typically comprising five to seven titles, which is publicly announced in the late summer. All finalists are invited to read from their works at a First Novel Fête, and the winning novel is then announced at an awards event—both events usually occurring in December. The winning novelist receives a cash prize of $10,000; each finalist receives $1,000.
The award is currently called the Flaherty-Dunnam prize, named after the journalist Ray Flaherty. It was previously known as the John Sergeant, Sr. prize.
Winners of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize:
The 2011 shortlist included novels by David Vann, Ida Hattemer-Higgins, Carolyn Cooke, Bonnie Nadzam, Ismet Prcic, Sarah Braunstein, and Alexi Zentner.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
. Publishers nominate English-language works by first-time United States novelists. There is a two-tiered selection process for the prize. First, the nominees are read by a network of booklovers (referred to as Common Readers), including librarians, writers, staff, members, and friends of The Center for Fiction, giving rise to a long list of recommended books. Next, the Common Readers' long list is forwarded to a committee of distinguished American writers, who select a short list, typically comprising five to seven titles, which is publicly announced in the late summer. All finalists are invited to read from their works at a First Novel Fête, and the winning novel is then announced at an awards event—both events usually occurring in December. The winning novelist receives a cash prize of $10,000; each finalist receives $1,000.
The award is currently called the Flaherty-Dunnam prize, named after the journalist Ray Flaherty. It was previously known as the John Sergeant, Sr. prize.
Winners of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize:
- 2010: Karl MarlantesKarl MarlantesKarl Marlantes is the author of Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War, a New York Times Top 10 Bestseller published in 2010. The New York Times declared Matterhorn "one of the most profound and devastating novels ever to come out of Vietnam"...
for MatterhornMatterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam WarMatterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War is a novel by American author and decorated Marine Karl Marlantes. It was first published by El Leon Literary Arts in 2009 and re-issued as a major publication of Atlantic Monthly Press on March 23, 2010.Marlantes is a graduate of Yale University and a... - 2009: John Pipkin for Woodsburner
- 2008: Hannah TintiHannah TintiHannah Tinti is an American writer and the editor of One Story magazine.Her first novel, The Good Thief, published in 2008, received the American Library Association's Alex Award and the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize. She also published a short story collection, Animal Crackers, which was...
for The Good ThiefThe Good Thief (novel)"The Good Thief," by Hannah Tinti is a novel published in 2008 by The Dial Press.Tinti's first novel, "The Good Thief" is the story of an orphan named Ren who is adopted by a pair of gentleman rogues in early American New England and led willingly into a life of crime... - 2007: Junot DíazJunot DíazJunot Díaz is a Dominican-American writer and creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience...
for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a best-selling novel written by Dominican author Junot Díaz. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in New Jersey where Díaz was raised and deals explicitly with his ancestral homeland's experience under dictator Rafael Trujillo... - 2006: Marisha PesslMarisha PesslMarisha Pessl is an American writer best known for her debut novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics.Pessl was born in Clarkston, Michigan, to Klaus, an Austrian engineer for General Motors, and Anne, an American homemaker. Pessl's parents divorced when she was three, and she moved to Asheville,...
for Special Topics in Calamity PhysicsSpecial Topics in Calamity PhysicsSpecial Topics in Calamity Physics is a novel by American writer Marisha Pessl. It is the author's debut novel. The book was first published in August 2006 by Viking Press, a division of Penguin Group. The book received many positive reviews and was named one of "The 10 Best Books of 2006" by the...
The 2011 shortlist included novels by David Vann, Ida Hattemer-Higgins, Carolyn Cooke, Bonnie Nadzam, Ismet Prcic, Sarah Braunstein, and Alexi Zentner.