Eugene Lim is the winner of the 2025 John Dos Passos Prize, given annually to “a talented American writer who experiments with form, explores a range of voices and merits further recognition.”
Lim made his literary debut in 2008 with the novel Fog & Car, following that up five years later with The Strangers. He published the novels Dear Cyborgs in 2017 and Search History in 2021. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus wrote of the latter book, “Lim brings together the mundane and the extraordinary to powerful effect.”
His next book, the novel Space Bar, will be published by Doubleday, although no publication date has been set.
Lim was one of five finalists for the Dos Passos Prize, alongside Gish Jen, Ayana Mathis, Lindsey Drager, and Chinelo Okparanta.
David Magill, chair of the English department at Longwood University, which administers the prize, said in a statement, “Eugene Lim’s work is completely unique in its formal innovations and its elegant yet accessible prose. Lim manages to pack so much into every page, taking us on a wild journey of adventure with each sentence. He is breathtakingly original and a writer not to be missed.”
The Dos Passos Prize, named for the author of the U.S.A. Trilogy, was established in 1980. Previous winners include Ernest J. Gaines, Colson Whitehead, Karen Tei Yamashita, and Rabih Alameddine.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
