The shortlist for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction has been revealed.
The prize, which comes with a cash award of $25,000, is given annually to a “book-length work of imaginative fiction written by a single author,” either written in or translated into English and published or distributed in the U.S.
Pip Adam made the shortlist for Audition, alongside William Alexander for Sunward, Christopher Caldwell for Call and Response, Hiron Ennes for The Works of Vermin, and Isaac Fellman for Notes From a Regicide.
Also named finalists were Midnight Timetable, written by Bora Chung and translated by Anton Hur; Mad Sisters of Esi by Tashan Mehta; One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed; and Slow Gods by Claire North.
The judges for this year’s prize are authors Nicola Griffith, Mat Johnson, Fonda Lee, Darcie Little Badger, and Peter Rock.
The prize, administered by the Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation, honors the late author of A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness. It was established in 2022; the previous winners are Khadija Abdalla Bajaber for The House of Rust, Rebecca Campbell for Arboreality, Anne de Marcken for It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over, and Vajra Chandrasekera for Rakesfall.
The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on Oct. 21, Le Guin’s birthday.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
