Kirkus Prize Awards $150,000 to Authors of Novel, History, and Children’s Book

New York – Three authors were awarded $50,000 each today in the Kirkus Prize, recognizing outstanding literary achievement in fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature.

Lucas Schaefer’s “The Slip,” a novel centered on a man searching for a long-lost nephew, took the fiction prize. Scott Anderson won the nonfiction award for “King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation,” a detailed account of the events leading to the overthrow of the Shah of Iran. Thao Lam’s “Everybelly,” a picture book celebrating the often-overlooked belly button, was honored in the young readers’ category.

The Kirkus Prize, established in 2014, is a significant honor in the publishing world, often boosting a book’s visibility and sales. “This year’s Kirkus Prize winners bring us vital messages for our time — messages about the joys of community, the power of self-transformation, and the mutability of historical events — all conveyed through exhilarating prose and pictures,” Kirkus Editor-in-Chief Tom Beer said in a statement released yesterday. Other finalists included works by Angela Flournoy, Nicholas Boggs, and Arundhati Roy, demonstrating a high level of competition this year. You can learn more about the Kirkus Reviews and their selection process on their official website.

The awards recognize exceptional writing and storytelling across genres, and the substantial cash prize allows authors to continue their work. The Associated Press reports that the prizes are intended to support and celebrate literary excellence.

Officials stated that the winners will be formally recognized at a ceremony later this month.