Kirkus Prize
| Kirkus Prize | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | |
| Date | Annual |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Kirkus Reviews |
| Reward | US$50,000 |
| First award | 2014 |
| Website | www |
The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine Kirkus Reviews. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows US$150,000 annually. Three authors are awarded US$50,000 each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers' Literature.[1] It has been described as one of the most lucrative prizes in literature.[2][3]
Eligibility and selection
[edit]Books reviewed by Kirkus Reviews that have received the Kirkus Star are automatically eligible for the Kirkus Prize and are selected for nomination. The eligibility dates of publication for books is typically between November 1 of the previous year and October 31 of the current year, with few exceptions. Self-published books that have earned the Kirkus Star are eligible for the Kirkus Prize. However, self-published books are not eligible based on their date of publication but rather the date of publication of their online review by Kirkus Reviews. All books must first be reviewed by Kirkus Reviews to be considered.[4]
The Prize is divided into three categories: the Kirkus Prize for Fiction, the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature. Each category is judged by a panel of three judges: a writer, a bookseller or librarian, and a Kirkus Reviews critic. The editors and staff of Kirkus Reviews evaluate each of the nominated books, conducting a first round of eliminations. The panels of judges then decide upon six finalists in each of the three categories. In the Young Readers' Literature category, the six finalists include two picture books, two middle-grade books and two teen books. The three winners are announced at a ceremony. The prize money for books with multiple authors and illustrators is divided fairly as decided by the Prize's judges and administrators.[4]
Winners and finalists
[edit]Fiction
[edit]Nonfiction
[edit]| Year | Author | Book | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Roz Chast | Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? | Winner | [5][6] |
| Leo Damrosch | Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World | Finalist | [7] | |
| Elizabeth Kolbert | The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History | |||
| Armand Marie Leroi | The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science | |||
| Thomas Piketty Arthur Goldhammer (tr.) |
Capital in the Twenty-First Century | |||
| Bryan Stevenson | Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption | |||
| 2015 | Ta-Nehisi Coates | Between the World and Me | Winner | [8][9] |
| John Ferling | Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It | Finalist | [8][10] | |
| Helen Macdonald | H is for Hawk | |||
| Adam Tooze | The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916–1931 | |||
| Simon Winchester | Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers | |||
| Andrea Wulf | The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World | |||
| 2016 | Susan Faludi | In the Darkroom | Winner | [11][12] |
| Sarah Bakewell | At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails | Finalist | [11] | |
| Matthew Desmond | Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City | |||
| Michael Eric Dyson | The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America | |||
| Beth Macy | Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South | |||
| J. D. Vance | Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis | |||
| 2017 | Jack E. Davis | The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea | Winner | [13][14] |
| Edward Dolnick | The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Sharks' Teeth to Frogs' Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come | Finalist | [13] | |
| Patricia Lockwood | Priestdaddy: A Memoir | |||
| Valeria Luiselli Lizzie Davis (tr.) |
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions | |||
| Michael W. Twitty | The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South | |||
| Laura Walls | Henry David Thoreau: A Life | |||
| 2018 | Rebecca Solnit | Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays) | Winner | [15][16] |
| Shane Bauer | American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment | Finalist | [15] | |
| Kiese Laymon | Heavy: An American Memoir | |||
| Beth Macy | Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America | |||
| Sarah Smarsh | Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth | |||
| Timothy Snyder | The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America | |||
| 2019 | Saeed Jones | How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir | Winner | [17][18] |
| Hanif Abdurraqib | Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest | Finalist | [17][19] | |
| Naja Marie Aidt Denise Newman (tr.) |
When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back: Carl's Book | |||
| Patrick Radden Keefe | Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland | |||
| Dina Nayeri | The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You | |||
| Rachel Louise Snyder | No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us | |||
| 2020 | Mychal Denzel Smith | Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream | Winner | [20][21] |
| Eric Jay Dolin | A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes | Finalist | [20] | |
| Rebecca Giggs | Fathoms: The World in the Whale | |||
| Deirdre Mask | The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power | |||
| Aimee Nezhukumatathil Fumi Nakamura (ill.) |
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments | |||
| Isabel Wilkerson | Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents | |||
| 2021 | Brian Broome | Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir | Winner | [22][23] |
| Dara Horn | People Love Dead Jews: Reports From a Haunted Present | Finalist | [24] | |
| Tiya Miles | All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake | |||
| Kristen Radtke | Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness | |||
| Katherine E. Standefer | Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life | |||
| Juan Villoro Alfred MacAdam (tr.) |
Horizontal Vertigo: A City Called Mexico | |||
| 2022 | Tanaïs | In Sensorium | Winner | [25][26] |
| Margaret A. Burnham | By Hands Now Known | Finalist | [27][39] | |
| Lindsey Fitzharris | The Facemaker | |||
| Nikole Hannah-Jones Caitlin Roper (ed.) Ilena Silverman (ed.) Jake Silverstein (ed.) |
The 1619 Project | |||
| Ann Patchett | These Precious Days | |||
| Ed Yong | An Immense World | |||
| 2023 | Héctor Tobar | Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on the Meanings and Myths of "Latino" | Winner | [28][29] |
| Tania Branigan | Red Memory: The Afterlives of China's Cultural Revolution | Finalist | [30][31] | |
| Jennifer Homans | Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century | |||
| Clancy Martin | How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind | |||
| Safiya Sinclair | How to Say Babylon: A Memoir | |||
| Ilyon Woo | Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom | |||
| 2024 | Adam Higginbotham | Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space | Winner | [32][33] |
| Steve Coll | The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq | Finalist | [34][35] | |
| Tessa Hulls | Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir | |||
| Olivia Laing | The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise | |||
| Shefali Luthra | Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America | |||
| Carvell Wallace | Another Word for Love: A Memoir | |||
| 2025 | Scott Anderson | King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation | Winner | [36][37] |
| Nicholas Boggs | Baldwin: A Love Story | Finalist | [37][38] | |
| Sophie Elmhirst | A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck | |||
| Greg Grandin | America, América: A New History of the New World | |||
| Imani Perry | Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People | |||
| Arundhati Roy | Mother Mary Comes to Me |
Young Readers' Literature
[edit]| Year | Author | Book | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Kate Samworth | Aviary Wonders Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual | Winner | [5][6] |
| Cece Bell | El Deafo | Finalist | [7] | |
| Jen Bryant Melissa Sweet (ill.) |
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus | |||
| Jack Gantos | The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza | |||
| E. K. Johnston | The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim | |||
| Don Mitchell | The Freedom Summer Murders | |||
| 2015 | Pam Muñoz Ryan Dinara Mirtalipova (ill.) |
Echo | Winner | [8][9] |
| Martha Brockenbrough | The Game of Love and Death | Finalist | [8][10] | |
| Lauren Child | The New Small Person | |||
| Daniel José Older | Shadowshaper | |||
| Duncan Tonatiuh | Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras | |||
| Jonah Winter Shane W. Evans (ill.) |
Lillian's Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 | |||
| 2016 | Jason Reynolds | As Brave as You | Winner | [11][12] |
| Sherman Alexie Yuyi Morales (ill.) |
Thunder Boy Jr. | Finalist | [11] | |
| Ashley Bryan | Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan | |||
| Traci Chee | The Reader | |||
| Russell Freedman | We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler | |||
| Meg Medina | Burn Baby Burn | |||
| 2017 | Cherie Dimaline | The Marrow Thieves | Winner | [13][14] |
| Jairo Buitrago Rafael Yockteng (ill.) Elisa Amado (tr.) |
Walk with Me | Finalist | [13] | |
| Cao Wenxuan Helen Wang (tr.) Meilo So (ill.) |
Bronze and Sunflower | |||
| Karen English | It All Comes Down to This | |||
| Lilli L'Arronge Madeleine Stratford (tr.) |
Me Tall, You Small | |||
| Angie Thomas | The Hate U Give | |||
| 2018 | Derrick Barnes Gordon C. James (ill.) |
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut | Winner | [15][16] |
| Elizabeth Acevedo | The Poet X | Finalist | [15] | |
| Tomi Adeyemi | Children of Blood and Bone | |||
| Meg Medina | Merci Suárez Changes Gears | |||
| Yuyi Morales | Dreamers | |||
| Jacqueline Woodson | Harbor Me | |||
| 2019 | Jerry Craft Jim Callahan (color.) |
New Kid | Winner | [17][18] |
| Kwame Alexander Kadir Nelson (ill.) |
The Undefeated | Finalist | [17][19] | |
| Juan Felipe Herrera Lauren Castillo (ill.) |
Imagine | |||
| Angie Thomas | On the Come Up | |||
| Juan Pablo Villalobos Rosalind Harvey (tr.) |
The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border | |||
| Alicia D. Williams | Genesis Begins Again | |||
| 2020 | Derrick Barnes Gordon C. James (ill.) |
I Am Every Good Thing | Winner | [20][21] |
| Elizabeth Acevedo | Clap When You Land | Finalist | [20] | |
| Hanna Alkaf | The Girl and the Ghost | |||
| Kimberly Brubaker Bradley | Fighting Words | |||
| Carole Lindstrom Michaela Goade (ill.) |
We Are Water Protectors | |||
| Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds | Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You | |||
| 2021 | Christina Soontornvat | All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team | Winner | [22][23] |
| Sharon G. Flake | The Life I'm In | Finalist | [24] | |
| Nikki Grimes | Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance | |||
| NoNieqa Ramos Jacqueline Alcántara (ill.) |
Your Mama | |||
| Wai Chim | The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling | |||
| Carole Boston Weatherford Floyd Cooper (ill.) |
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre | |||
| 2022 | Harmony Becker | Himawari House | Winner | [25][26] |
| Betina Birkjær Anna Margrethe Kjærgaard (ill.) Sinéad Quirke Køngerskov (trans.) |
Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost | Finalist | [27][39] | |
| Rimma Onoseta | How You Grow Wings | |||
| Niki Smith | The Golden Hour | |||
| Anne Ursu | The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy | |||
| Jacqueline Woodson Rafael López (ill.) |
The Year We Learned to Fly | |||
| 2023 | Ariel Aberg-Riger | America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History | Winner | [28][29] |
| Valerie Bolling Kaylani Juanita (ill.) |
Together We Swim | Finalist | [30][31] | |
| Louise Finch | The Eternal Return of Clara Hart | |||
| Kiran Millwood Hargrave Tom de Freston (ill.) |
Julia and the Shark | |||
| Jon Klassen | The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale | |||
| Roger Mello Daniel Hahn (trans.) |
João by a Thread | |||
| 2024 | Kenneth M. Cadow | Gather | Winner | [32][33] |
| Safia Elhillo | Bright Red Fruit | Finalist | [34][35] | |
| Joanna Ho Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (ill.) |
We Who Produce Pearls | |||
| Hiba Noor Khan | Safiyyah's War | |||
| Jason Reynolds Jerome Pumphrey (ill.) Jarrett Pumphrey (ill.) |
There Was a Party for Langston | |||
| Sherri Winston | Shark Teeth | |||
| 2025 | Thao Lam | Everybelly | Winner | [36][37] |
| Derrick Barnes | The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze | Finalist | [37][38] | |
| Triinu Laan Marja-Liisa Plats (ill.) Adam Cullen (trans.) |
John the Skeleton | |||
| Moa Backe Åstot Agnes Broomé (trans.) |
Butterfly Heart | |||
| Candace Fleming | Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal and the Lost Dream of Jonestown | |||
| Brian Floca Sydney Smith (ill.) |
Island Storm |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Dwyer, Colin (September 30, 2014). "Book News: First-Ever Kirkus Prize Picks 18 Finalists". NPR. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ Dwyer, Colin (October 25, 2018). "Here Are The Winners Of The 2018 Kirkus Prizes". NPR. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
- ^ Schaub, Michael (September 25, 2018). "Literary awards season heats up with $50,000 Kirkus Prize finalists". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
- ^ a b "Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
- ^ a b c "2014 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus Winners; T.S. Eliot Poetry Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. October 24, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Thurber; Maine Readers' Choice; Kirkus Prize". Shelf Awareness. October 1, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "2015 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus; Gordon Burn". Shelf Awareness. October 16, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c "This Year's Kirkus Young Readers Winners". Shelf Awareness. October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "2016 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus, IPNE Book; Poets & Writers". Shelf Awareness. November 4, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "2017 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus, Brooklyn Public Library Winners". Shelf Awareness. November 6, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "2018 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus; Bard Fiction". Shelf Awareness. October 26, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "2019 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Willie Morris, Kirkus Winners". Shelf Awareness. October 28, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Kirkus Announces the Finalists for the 2019 Kirkus". Kirkus Reviews. September 17, 2019. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "2020 Kirkus Prize". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Awards: WH Smith Book of the Year; Kirkus Winners". Shelf Awareness. November 6, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c "2021 Winners". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus Winners; Waterstones Book of the Year Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Washington State Book Winners; Kirkus Finalists". Shelf Awareness. September 17, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Hernan Diaz, Tanaïs among winners of $50,000 Kirkus Prize". AP News. October 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus Winners; Waterstones Book of the Year Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c Michnick, Laurie (September 8, 2022). "Here Are the 2022 Kirkus Prize Fiction Finalists". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
- ^ a b c Ulaby, Neda (October 11, 2023). "It's the 10th year of the Kirkus Prize. Meet the winners of a top literary award". Morning Edition. NPR. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus; Goddard Riverside Winners". Shelf Awareness. October 12, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus Finalists". Shelf Awareness. August 31, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c Hertzel, Laurie (August 30, 2023). "Finalists Announced for 2023 Kirkus Prizes". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
- ^ a b c Schaub, Michael. "Winners of the 2024 Kirkus Prize Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus Winners; Derek Walcott Winner". Shelf Awareness. October 21, 2024. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus Finalists". Shelf Awareness. August 28, 2024. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
- ^ a b c Schaub, Michael (August 28, 2024). "Finalists for the 2024 Kirkus Prize Are Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Awards: Kirkus Winners". Shelf Awareness. October 14, 2025. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f "Winners of the 2025 Kirkus Prize Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Finalists for the 2025 Kirkus Prize Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
- ^ a b Dar, Mahnaz; Simeon, Laura (September 12, 2022). "The 2022 Kirkus Prize: Young Readers' Finalists". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved September 15, 2022.