Center for Fiction Announces 2026 First Novel Prize Shortlist

October 1, 2026

The Center for Fiction has announced the shortlist for their annual First Novel Prize, which was judged this year by R. O. Kwon, Kiese Laymon, Jordy Rosenberg, and Danzy Senna. The shortlisted authors will each be awarded $1,000 and the winner, who will be announced in December, will receive $15,000 “in recognition of their contribution to contemporary literature and in support of their ongoing creative career.”

In the meantime, here’s the shortlist:

Emeline Atwood, A Real Animal
(Catapult)

Samantha Josephs, Carrying
(G. P. Putnam’s Sons)

T Kira Madden, Whidbey
(Mariner Books)

Giada Scodellaro, Ruins, Child
(New Directions Publishing)

Avigayl Sharp, Offseason
(Astra House)

Ankur Thakkar, Blow Yourself Up
(TriQuarterly Books)

Nafissa Thompson-Spires, The Four Wives and Five Deaths of Richard Milford
(Scribner)

Isabela Reyes

Isabela Reyes

I write about books as quiet places where memory, imagination, and culture meet. At PLAI, I explore literature through reviews, author stories, reading reflections, and the small details that make a story stay with us long after the final page.