Seven of 10 books on National Book Award fiction longlist are by women
The National Book Foundation has announced the longlist for the 2019 Fiction award, and seven of the 10 books are by women. The other three books are the latest novels by Colson Whitehead, Marlon James, and Ocean Vuong.
The seven women nominated are, in alphabetical order:
Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Fleishman Is in Trouble (Random House) Susan Choi, Trust Exercise (Henry Holt) Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Sabrina & Corina: Stories (One World) Laila Lalami, The Other Americans (Pantheon) Kimberly King Parsons, Black Light: Stories (Vintage) Helen Phillips, The Need (Simon & Schuster) Julia Phillips, Disappearing Earth (Knopf)
The shortlist of five finalists will be announced on October 8, with the winner to be announced at an awards ceremony and benefit dinner on November 20. The judges for Fiction are Dorothy Allison, Ruth Dickey, Javier Ramirez, Danzy Senna (Chair), and Jeff VanderMeer.
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A similar result occurred with the finalists for the Kirkus Book Prize for Fiction, announced on September 17: Four of the six are women. The winner, to be announced on October 24, will receive $50,000.
Carolina De Robertis, Cantoras (Knopf)
Laila Lalami, The Other Americans (Pantheon)
Valeria Luiselli, Lost Children Archive (Knopf)
Yuko Tsushima, Territory of Light (FSG)
Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press)
Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys (Doubleday)
The judges for the 2019 Kirkus Prize in Fiction are bestselling author Min Jin Lee; editor, writer, and critic David L. Ulin; and Michelle Malonzo, buyer and bookseller at Changing Hands Bookstore in Arizona.