Come Saturday night one mid-career novelist will become one happy writer with 50,000 reasons to celebrate.
That’s because the winner of the 2015 St. Francis College $50,000 Literary Prize will be announced at the opening gala for the Brooklyn Book Festival.
The six writers were chosen from 130 submissions as the best representation of work by a mid-career writer. Authors on the 2015 shortlist are:
- Paul Beatty, The Sellout (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
- Maud Casey, The Man Who Walked Away (Bloomsbury USA)
- Stuart Dybek, Paper Lantern (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)
- David Gilbert, & Sons (Random House)
- Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings (Riverhead)
- René Steinke, Friendswood (Riverhead)
The Literary Prize is awarded to a mid-career author for their third to fifth published book. This year’s jury included authors Sigrid Nunez (A Feather on the Breath of God), Erin McGraw (The Baby Tree), and Daniel Torday (The Last Flight of Poxl West).
The Literary Prize Panel is one of almost twenty panels that will be held at St. Francis College on Sunday. All finalists except Stuart Dybek are expected to be at the panel.
“Mid-career authors face an uncertain future. Will they be able to continue writing, or do they need to venture down a different career path,” said St. Francis College Provost Timothy Houlihan. “With the Literary Prize, we take the defiant stand that good authors need to keep writing. The College puts a great effort behind recognizing these writers and celebrating a rich community of literature in Brooklyn and beyond.”
David Vann, the winner of the 2013 Literary Prize, credits his continuing writing career in part to the Literary Prize. “I really have been re-launched because of this prize and because of my new publisher. I’m really grateful for what that did. It really made a big difference.”
Then a few hours later five of the six finalists will appear at a panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Saturday, September 20 at 10:00am at St. Francis College.
In addition to The Literary Prize panel, St. Francis College will host nearly 20 other panels including, The Writer’s Life at 11:00am withJoyce Carol Oates (The Lost Landscape), Ben Greenman (Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard on You?) and Pico Iyer (The Art of Stillness); Concrete Jungle–Where Dreams are Made at 12:00pm with John Leguizamo (Ghetto Klown) and Jonathan Lethem (Lucky Alan and Other Stories); Paul Holdengräber and Salman Rushdie in Conversation. Paul Holdengräber at 5:00pm.
The Literary Prize and the Brooklyn Book Festival are just two ways that St. Francis College supports the writing community. The College also welcomes authors to campus throughout the year, and including most recently, Junot Díaz, Stephen King, Peter Straub and Alicia Ostriker.
