Percival Everett nabbed the National Book Award and Samantha Harvey bagged the Booker, but they weren’t the only writers who struck gold this year.
Yes, from the Pulitzer to the Nebula, the PEN/Faulkner to the Edgar, here are the winners of the biggest book prizes of 2024.
Congratulations to all!
*
PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
Awarded for distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life.
Prize money: $15,000
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
(Knopf)
“Beautiful, mournful … We are already in thrall to a master storyteller who enmeshes us in the life of the asylum while tantalizing us with the promise of further revelations about the life that ConaLee and her mother left behind … The intertwined stories embody a rich array of themes and ideas.”
–Wendy Smith (The Washington Post)
Finalists:
Yiyun Li, Wednesday’s Child (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
Ed Park, Same Bed, Different Dreams (Random House)
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
Recognizes an outstanding work of literary fiction by a United States citizen.
Prize money: $10,000
James by Percival Everett
(Random House)
“The result is strangely new and familiar—an adrenaline-spiking adventure with absurdity and tragedy blended together … Re-imaginings of classic literature are challenging, often unnecessary endeavors. This one is different, a startling homage and a new classic in its own right … Again and again. In true Everett fashion, the intertwined artifice of race and language is stretched to self-reflexive absurdity … Like James and Norman’s encounter, the novel is exquisitely multilayered. A brilliant, sometimes shocking mashup of various literary forms, James has the arc of an odyssey, with the quest for home, and an abundance of absurdly comical humor.”
–Carole V. Bell (NPR)
Finalists:
Pemi Aguda, Ghostroots (W. W. Norton & Company)
Kaveah Akbar, Martyr! (Knopf)
Miranda July, All Fours (Riverhead)
Hisham Matar, My Friends (Random House)
BOOKER PRIZE
Awarded for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the UK.
Prize money: £50,000
Orbital by Samantha Harvey
(Atlantic Monthly Press)
“Harvey manages, in taking readers along to the final frontier, to remind us less of our essential loneliness and more of our mutual dependence … A complete novel, all the way to its conclusion. With a few tiny strokes of foreshadowing and a few lovely paragraphs of description, Harvey manages to bring readers back down to Earth, astounded that they’ve traveled so far in such a short period of time, having finished their own orbit through the realms of her rich imagination.”
–Bethanne Patrick (The Los Angeles Times)
Finalists:
Percival Everett, James (Random House)
Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake (Scribner)
Anne Michaels, Held (Knopf)
Yael van der Wouden, The Safekeep (Avid Reader Press)
Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional (Riverhead)
INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE
Awarded for a single book in English translation published in the UK.
Prize money: £50,000, divided equally between the author and the translator
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, tr. from German by Michael Hofmann
(New Directions)
“…one of the bleakest and most beautiful novels I have ever read … Kairos is the apotheosis of this endeavor to fuse the personal and the political, as our two lovers experience and sometimes seem to embody the political reality of East Germany at the end of the communist dream. The relationship finds wider echoes in that country’s lost ideals and its insistence on holding on to the past long after its inhabitants know they must move on … Throughout these personal and political journeys, Erpenbeck never reaches for the stock phrase or the known response. While the novel is indeed bleak in its view of love and politics, spending time with Erpenbeck’s rigorous and uncompromising imagination is invigorating all the way to the final page.”
–Natasha Walter (The Guardian)
Finalists:
Not a River by Selva Almada, tr. from Spanish by Annie McDermott (Graywolf)
The Details by Ia Genberg, tr. from Swedish by Kira Josefsson (HarperVia)
Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong, tr. from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae (Scribe)
What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma, tr. from Dutch by Sarah Timmer Harvey (Scribe)
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior, tr. from Portugese by Johnny Lorenz (Verso Books)
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD
Given annually to honor outstanding writing and to foster a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature. Judged by the volunteer directors of the NBCC who are 24 members serving rotating three-year terms, with eight elected annually by the voting members, namely “professional book review editors and book reviewers.”
I Am Homeless If This is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore
(Knopf)
“A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. I wouldn’t have it any other way … I’m reading not for the tightness of the structure but for the acuity of the reverie. Moore is after something more mysterious than naturalism. She is operating in the territory of myth … Moore’s fever dream of a world feel[s] so relentlessly real.”
–David L. Ulin (The Los Angeles Times)
Finalists:
Teju Cole, Tremor (Random House)
Daniel Mason, North Woods (Random House)
Marie NDiaye, Vengeance is Mine (Knopf)
Justin Torres, Blackouts (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
KIRKUS PRIZE
Chosen from books reviewed by Kirkus Reviews that earned the Kirkus Star.
Prize money: $50,000
James by Percival Everett
(Random House)
“…the horror gathers gently in James. First, Everett moves to reorient these characters in his own moral landscape … leans in hard on its thriller elements and gathers speed and terror like a swelling storm. Its conclusion is equally shocking and exhilarating … What’s most striking, ultimately, is the way James both honors and interrogates Huck Finn, along with the nation that reveres it.”
–Ron Charles (The Washington Post)
Finalists:
Jennine Capó Crucet, Say Hello to My Little Friend (Simon & Schuster)
Louise Erdrich, The Mighty Red (Harper)
Paul Lynch, Prophet Song (Atlantic Monthly Press)
Richard Powers, Playground (W. W. Norton & Company)
Rufi Thorpe, Margo’s Got Money Troubles (William Morrow & Company)
WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION
Awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English and published in the UK.
Prize Money: £30,000
Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan
(Random House)
“Devastating … Part of Ganeshananthan’s genius lies in the way she gives the reader a multifaceted perspective on Sashi’s motivations … A spectacular work of historical fiction: thoroughly researched, brimming with outrage and compassion, and full of indelible imagery.”
–Yagnishsing Dawoor (The Guardian)
Finalists:
Anne Enright, The Wren, the Wren (W. W. Norton & Company)
Kate Grenville, Restless Dolly Maunder (Cannongate)
Isabella Hammad, Enter Ghost (Grove)
Claire Kilroy, Soldier Sailor (Scribner)
Aube Rey Lescure, River East, River West (William Morrow & Company)
PEN/FAULKNER AWARD
Awarded to the author of the year’s best work of fiction by a living American citizen.
Prize money: $15,000
What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez
(Grand Central Publishing)
“There’s a delightfully subversive and maverick quality to the way first-time novelist Jiménez gives her characters the freedom to tell the truth as they see it … Jiménez brings bravery to the page, and it’s her strong storytelling and humor that make this an outstanding debut.”
Finalists:
Jamel Brinkley, Witness (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Henry Hoke, Open Throat (MCD)
Alice McDermott, Absolution (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Colin Winnette, Users (Soft Skull)
ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTION
Awards established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year. Administered by the American Library Association.
Prize money: $5,000 (winner), $1,500 (finalists)
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
(Catapult)
“Not meant to be a mystery. The strength of Amanda Peters’s novel lies in its understanding of how trauma spreads through a life and a family, and its depiction of the challenges facing Indigenous people … Though the plot is overdetermined and overly drawn out, nuanced characterizations benefit from all the space they have to develop.”
–Marion Winik (The Washington Post)
Finalists:
Christina Wong and Daniel Innes, Denison Avenue (ECW Press)
Jesmyn Ward, Let Us Descend (Scribner)
INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD
An international literary award presented each year for a novel written in English or translated into English.
Prize money: €100,000
Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, tr. by Sean Cotter
(Deep Vellum)
“[S]omething of a masterpiece … Solenoid synthesizes and subtly mocks elements of autofiction and history fiction by way of science fiction. The result is unlike any genre in ambition or effect, something else altogether, a self-sufficient style that proudly rejects its less emancipated alternatives…The mesmerizing beauty of creation, of reality giving way to itself: that, above all, lies behind the doors of Solenoid.”
–Federico Perelmuter (Astra)
Finalists:
Sebastian Barry, Old God’s Time (Viking)
Emma Donoghue, Haven (Little Brown and Company)
Jonathan Escoffery, If I Survive You (MCD)
Suzette Mayr, The Sleeping Car Porter (Coach House Books)
Alexis Wright, Praiseworthy (New Directions)
CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
An annual award presented by The Center for Fiction, a non-profit organization in New York City, for the best debut novel.
Prize money: $10,000
God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer by Joesph Earl Thomas
(Grand Central)
“I was poring over prose unlike anything I’d previously encountered, prose that felt at times unruly but always athletic in its meta pursuit of clarity … This is a book that’s not afraid of a tangent. It’s a risky quality, one that may prompt some readers to dismiss Otis Spunkmeyer as rambly, as I did at first. But there is a great deal of genius in the novel’s sprawl … Thomas loads his sentences and scenes with so much detail that up close they may feel abstruse, at least initially. But like the work of Jackson Pollock, the novel reveals itself the longer one spends time with it. Keep looking, the chaos will start to show its pattern, its rhythm, its dimension and its awe-inspiring color.”
–Danez Smith (The New York Times Book Review)
Finalists:
Rita Bullwinkel, Headshot (Viking)
Ruthvika Rao, The Fertile Earth (Flatiron)
Mai Sennaar, They Dream in Gold (Zando)
Clare Sestanovich, Ask Me Again (Knopf)
Morgan Talty, Fire Exit (Tin House Books)
Ledia Xhoga, Misinterpretation (Tin House Books)
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE
Recognizes outstanding literary works as well as champions new writers.
Prize money: $1,000
(ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION)
Company: Stories by Shannon Sanders
(Graywolf)
“One of the great pleasures of Company—and there are many—is how some stories double back to retell an event or re-establish a family member from a different vantage point, deepening our understanding of, and investment in, the Collinses … This is a collection that builds intrigue through both what we see and what we don’t see. As we jump from story to story, between different times and different perspectives, it’s thrilling to re-encounter past characters in new circumstances and speculate about how we got here … A deftly woven tapestry that scrupulously depicts familial ties and estrangement, richly told with a nuance that allows each character dignity and grace.”
–Jonathan Escoffery (The New York Times Book Review)
Finalists:
Stephen Buoro, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa (Bloomsbury)
Sheena Patel, I’m a Fan (Graywolf)
James Frankie Thomas, Idlewild (Overlook Press)
Ghassan Zeineddine, Dearborn (Tin House Books)
(FICTION)
Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park
(Random House)
“It’s a challenging read and yet wonderfully suspenseful, like watching a circus performer juggle a dozen torches; will one slip his agile hands? Park seeks to encompass the vast Korean diaspora, but he’s also fleeing realism, a personal diaspora, away from conventional forms … Same Bed Different Dreams struts confidently across registers—lyrical, deadpan, acerbic, comedic—while doling out clues. Characters rotate in and out, some glimpsed in passing, their motives opaque … Sprawling, stunning.”
–Hamilton Cain (The New York Times Book Review)
EDGAR AWARD
Presented by the Mystery Writers of America, honoring the best in crime and mystery fiction.
Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke
(Grove Press)
“[An] outstanding thriller … Burke stitches plot threads and historical details with ease, weaving it all into an urgent, propulsive story
steeped in his deep personal connections to Louisiana. This is masterful.”
Finalists:
S. A. Cosby, All the Sinners Bleed (Flatiron Books)
Jennifer Cody Epstein, The Mad Women of Paris (Random House)
Jessica Knoll, Bright Young Women (MarySue Ricci Books)
Michael Koryta, An Honest Man (Mulholland Books)
William Kent Krueger, The River We Remember (Atria)
Colson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto (Doubleday)
NEBULA AWARD
Given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for the best science fiction or fantasy novel.
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
(Tordotcom)
“The lyrical, precise prose, the original, organic nature of the world building, and the complex themes of purpose, identity, and the biased, often violent, incomplete nature of history-telling will engage readers long after finishing.”
–Melinda Liu (Booklist)
Finalists:
S. L. Huang, The Water Outlaws (Tordotcom)
Ann Leckie, Translation State (Orbit)
Annalee Newitz, The Terraformers (Tordotcom)
Wole Talabi, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon (DAW)
Martha Wells, Witch King (Tordotcom)
HUGO AWARD
Awarded for the best science fiction or fantasy story of 40,000 words or more published in English or translated in the prior calendar year.
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
(Tor Books)
“What begins as classic military space opera blossoms into something far more complex and interesting … The well-told story combines thrilling action with more thoughtful content, touching on such hot topics as AI, fascism and gender politics, and looks like another award winner.”
–Lisa Tuttle (The Guardian)
Finalists:
Shannon Chakraborty, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Harper Voyager)
Vajra Chandrasekera, The Saint of Bright Doors (Tordotcom)
John Scalzi, Starter Villain (Tor Books)
Ann Leckie, Translation State (Orbit)
Martha Wells, Witch King (Tordotcom)
BRAM STOKER AWARD
Presented by the Horror Writers Association for “superior achievement” in horror writing for novels.
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
(Gallery / Saga)
“Emotive and eschews realism for the supernatural. It combines current concerns about race and justice for young Black men with an intensely readable, immersive story with decisive paranormal features. In fact, the novel’s extended, layered denouement is so heart-smashingly good, it made me late for work. I couldn’t stop reading. I needed to find out what was going to happen next, and next, and next … A supernatural historical novel and a straight-up page-turner. This is a difficult combination to sustain for nearly 600 pages, but Due accomplishes it, and in so doing invites us to consider what it means to be enthralled, even entertained, by a young man’s ethical dilemmas, and to find ourselves unexpectedly rooting for revenge, for the living and the dead.”
–Randy Boyagoda (The New York Times Book Review)
Finalists:
Grady Hendrix, How To Sell A Haunted House (Berkley)
Stephen Graham Jones, Don’t Fear the Reaper (Gallery / Saga)
Victor Lavalle, Lone Women (One World)
Chuck Tingle, Camp Damascus (Tor Nightfire)
Chuck Wendig, Black River Orchard (Del Rey)
GILLER PRIZE
Given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year.
Prize Money: $100,000 (winner), $10,000 (finalists)
Held by Anne Michaels
(Knopf)
“Michaels is a Canadian poet, essayist and fiction writer, and her radiant novel harnesses this doubleness, finding points of contact between the physical world of mortality and the abstract realm of remembrance … Her imagery shimmers with metaphoric significance … Strange, lovely.”
–Sam Sacks (The Wall Street Journal)
Finalists:
Éric Chacour (tr. Pablo Strauss), What I Know About You (Coach House Books)
Anne Fleming, Curiosities (Vintage Books Canada)
Conor Kerr, Prairie Edge (University of Minnesota Press)
Deepa Rajagopalan, Peacocks of Instagram (Astoria)
