Each year, the Gotham Book Prize recognizes the best NYC-focused books, and this year’s finalists are in.
Created in mid-2020 by venture capitalist, political strategist, and writer Bradley Tusk and Education program lead of Bloomberg Philanthropies Howard Wolfson as a way to uplift the creative community during the pandemic, the Gotham Book Prize sets out to recognize the culture that makes NYC so special.
As NYC is often the setting for books and backdrop for movies and TV shows, the prize is awarded annually to the best book published that calendar year that’s either set in or about New York City.
Both non-fiction and fiction works can be considered.
This year’s eleven finalists showcase a range of subjects, from a crime story set in the Revolutionary Era to a story about a trans woman navigating through life after twenty years in a men’s prison.
This year’s eleven finalists include:
- Activities of Daily Living – Lisa Hsiao Chen
- An Honest Living – Dwyer Murphy
- Big Girl – Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
- Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta – James Hannaham
- Olga Dies Dreaming – Xochitl Gonzalez
- Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion – Bushra Rehman
- The Deceptions – Jill Bialosky
- The Sewing Girl’s Tale – John Wood Sweet
- Stories from the Tenants Downstairs – Sidik Fofana
- Three Muses – Martha Anne Toll
- Trust – Hernan Diaz
The nine-person jury will select one winner in April, who will receive a $50,000 prize which will be awarded in spring 2023 at P&T Knitwear, an independent bookstore on the Lower East Side.
Deacon King Kong by James McBride was selected as the first winner back in April 2021, and Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott was last year’s winner.
“There’s no other city that has the diversity, vibrancy, and culture of New York, and the Gotham Book Prize is once again going to honor an author who has captured the remarkable character of our city,” said Gotham Book Prize co-founders Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson in an Instagram post. “By highlighting these eleven outstanding books and awarding one author a $50,000 prize, we hope to support and encourage even more writers to share the unique stories of our city in the years to come.”
Those interested in reading the finalists’ books can purchase them at P&T Knitwear, and anyone who buys all of them will receive a $25 gift card to the store.