The longlist for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize has been revealed.
Madeline Cash was nominated for her novel Lost Lambs, alongside Woody Brown for Upward Bound, T Kira Madden for Whidbey, Avigayl Sharp for Offseason, and Stephanie Soileau for Should the Waters Take Us.
Sarah Anderson made the longlist for Fallow, as did Emeline Atwood for A Real Animal; Joe Bond for Hope House; Jessica M. Goldstein for Retro; Devon Halliday for To Stay, To Stay, To Stay; Jiyoung Han for Honey in the Wound; Samantha Josephs for Carrying; and Jan Saenz for 200 Monas.
Also nominated were Yah Yah Scholfield for On Sundays She Picked Flowers; Giada Scodellaro for Ruins, Child; Ankur Thakkar for Blow Yourself Up; Nafissa Thompson-Spires for The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford; P. C. Verrone for Rabbit, Fox, Tar; and Stacey Yu for Kitten.
The First Novel Prize, which comes with a cash award of $15,000, was established in 2006. Previous winners include Hannah Tinti for The Good Thief, Tiphanie Yanique for Land of Love and Drowning, Tommy Orange for There There, and Darrell Kinsey for Natch.
The shortlist for this year’s prize will be revealed in the fall, and the winner announced at a benefit gala on Dec. 8.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
