Kirkus Prize#Fiction
{{short description|American literary award}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox award
| name = Kirkus Prize
| image = Kirkus Prize logo.png
| imagesize =
| awarded_for = {{hlist|Fiction|Nonfiction|Young Readers' Literature}}
| presenter = Kirkus Reviews
| date = Annual
| country = United States
| reward = {{currency|50,000|USD}}
| year = {{start date and age|2014}}
| website = {{URL|https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/}}
}}
The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine Kirkus Reviews. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows {{currency|150,000|USD}} annually. Three authors are awarded {{currency|50,000|USD}} each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers' Literature.{{Cite web |last=Dwyer |first=Colin |date=September 30, 2014 |title=Book News: First-Ever Kirkus Prize Picks 18 Finalists |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/09/30/352696150/book-news-first-ever-kirkus-prize-picks-18-finalists |access-date=November 23, 2015 |website=NPR}} It has been described as one of the most lucrative prizes in literature.{{Cite web |last=Dwyer |first=Colin |date=October 25, 2018 |title=Here Are The Winners Of The 2018 Kirkus Prizes |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/10/25/660619321/here-are-the-winners-of-the-2018-kirkus-prizes |access-date=November 24, 2020 |website=NPR}}{{Cite web |last=Schaub |first=Michael |date=September 25, 2018 |title=Literary awards season heats up with $50,000 Kirkus Prize finalists |url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-kirkus-prizes-20180925-story.html |access-date=November 24, 2020 |website=Los Angeles Times}}
Eligibility and selection
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.{{Cite web |title=Kirkus Prize |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/ |access-date=November 25, 2020 |website=Kirkus Reviews}}
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.
Winners and finalists
=Fiction=
=Nonfiction=
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" width="95%" cellpadding="5" |
| width=5% | Year
! width=45%| Author ! width=45%| Book ! width=5% | {{Ref heading}} |
|---|
| rowspan="6" | 2014
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Roz|Chast}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? |
| {{Sortname|Leo|Damrosch}}
| Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World |
| {{Sortname|Elizabeth|Kolbert}}
| {{Sortname|The|Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History}} |
| {{Sortname|Armand Marie|Leroi}}
| {{Sortname|The|Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Thomas|Piketty}} Arthur Goldhammer ({{Abbr|tr.|translator}}) |
| {{Sortname|Bryan|Stevenson}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2015
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Ta-Nehisi|Coates}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Between the World and Me |
| {{Sortname|John|Ferling}}
| Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It |
| {{Sortname|Helen|Macdonald|Helen Macdonald (writer)}} |
| {{Sortname|Adam|Tooze}}
| {{Sortname|The|Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916–1931|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Simon|Winchester}} |
| {{Sortname|Andrea|Wulf}}
| {{Sortname|The|Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World|link=The Invention of Nature}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2016
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Susan|Faludi}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | In the Darkroom |
| {{Sortname|Sarah|Bakewell}}
| At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails |
| {{Sortname|Matthew|Desmond}} |
| {{Sortname|Michael Eric|Dyson}}
| {{Sortname|The|Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Beth|Macy}}
| Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South |
| {{Sortname|J. D.|Vance}}
| Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis |
| rowspan="6" | 2017
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Jack E.|Davis}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|The|Gulf: The Making of an American Sea|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Edward|Dolnick}}
| {{Sortname|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|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Patricia|Lockwood}} |
| {{Sortname|Valeria|Luiselli}} Lizzie Davis ({{Abbr|tr.|translator}}) | Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions |
| {{Sortname|Michael W.|Twitty}}
| {{Sortname|The|Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South|link=The Cooking Gene}} |
| {{Sortname|Laura|Walls}}
| Henry David Thoreau: A Life |
| rowspan="6" | 2018
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Rebecca|Solnit}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays) |
| {{Sortname|Shane|Bauer}}
| American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment |
| {{Sortname|Kiese|Laymon}} |
| {{Sortname|Beth|Macy}}
| Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America |
| {{Sortname|Sarah|Smarsh}}
| Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth |
| {{Sortname|Timothy|Snyder}}
| {{Sortname|The|Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America|link=The Road to Unfreedom}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2019
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Saeed|Jones}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir |
| {{Sortname|Hanif|Abdurraqib}}
| Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest |
| {{Sortname|Naja Marie|Aidt}} Denise Newman ({{Abbr|tr.|translator}}) | When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back: Carl's Book |
| {{Sortname|Patrick Radden|Keefe}}
| Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland |
| {{Sortname|Dina|Nayeri}}
| {{Sortname|The|Ungrateful Refugee|nolink=1}}: What Immigrants Never Tell You |
| {{Sortname|Rachel Louise|Snyder}}
| No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us |
| rowspan="6" | 2020
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Mychal Denzel|Smith}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream |
| {{Sortname|Eric Jay|Dolin}}
| {{Sortname|A|Furious Sky|nolink=1}}: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes |
| {{Sortname|Rebecca|Giggs}}
| Fathoms: The World in the Whale |
| {{Sortname|Deirdre|Mask}}
| {{Sortname|The|Address Book|nolink=1}}: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power |
| {{Sortname|Aimee|Nezhukumatathil}} Fumi Nakamura ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments |
| {{Sortname|Isabel|Wilkerson}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2021
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Brian|Broome}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir |
| {{Sortname|Dara|Horn}} |
| {{Sortname|Tiya|Miles}}
| All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake |
| {{Sortname|Kristen|Radtke}}
| Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness |
| {{Sortname|Katherine E.|Standefer}}
| Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life |
| {{Sortname|Juan|Villoro}} Alfred MacAdam ({{Abbr|tr.|translator}}) | Horizontal Vertigo: A City Called Mexico |
| rowspan="6" | 2022
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | Tanaïs | style=" background:lightyellow;" | In Sensorium |
| {{Sortname|Margaret A.|Burnham}}
| By Hands Now Known | rowspan="5" |{{Cite web |last1=Dar |first1=Mahnaz |last2=Simeon |first2=Laura |date=September 12, 2022 |title=The 2022 Kirkus Prize: Young Readers' Finalists |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/the-2022-kirkus-prize-young-readers-finalists/ |access-date=September 15, 2022 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}} |
| {{Sortname|Lindsey|Fitzharris}}
| The Facemaker |
| {{Sortname|Nikole|Hannah-Jones}} Caitlin Roper ({{Abbr|ed.|editor}}) Ilena Silverman ({{Abbr|ed.|editor}}) Jake Silverstein ({{Abbr|ed.|editor}}) |
| {{Sortname|Ann|Patchett}} |
| {{Sortname|Ed|Yong}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2023
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | Héctor Tobar | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on the Meanings and Myths of "Latino" |
| {{Sortname|Tania|Branigan}}
| Red Memory: The Afterlives of China's Cultural Revolution |
| {{Sortname|Jennifer|Homans}}
| Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century |
| {{Sortname|Clancy|Martin}} |
| {{Sortname|Safiya|Sinclair}}
| How to Say Babylon: A Memoir |
| {{Sortname|Ilyon|Woo}}
| Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom |
| rowspan="6" | 2024
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Adam|Higginbotham}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space |
| {{Sortname|Steve|Coll}}
| The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq |
| {{Sortname|Tessa|Hulls}}
| Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir |
| {{Sortname|Olivia|Laing}}
| The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise |
| {{Sortname|Shefali|Luthra}}
| Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America |
| {{Sortname|Carvell|Wallace}}
| Another Word for Love: A Memoir |
=Young Readers' Literature=
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" width="95%" cellpadding="5" |
| width=5% | Year
! width=45%| Author ! width=45%| Book ! width=5% | {{Ref heading}} |
|---|
| rowspan="6" | 2014
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Kate|Samworth}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Aviary Wonders Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual |
| {{Sortname|Cece|Bell}}
| El Deafo |
| {{Sortname|Jen|Bryant}} Melissa Sweet ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | {{Sortname|The|Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus|nolink=1}} |
| Jack Gantos
| {{Sortname|The|Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza|nolink=1}} |
| E. K. Johnston
| {{Sortname|The|Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim|nolink=1}} |
| Don Mitchell
| {{Sortname|The|Freedom Summer Murders|nolink=1}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2015
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Pam|Muñoz Ryan}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Echo |
| {{Sortname|Martha|Brockenbrough}}
| {{Sortname|The|Game of Love and Death|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Lauren|Child}}
| {{Sortname|The|New Small Person|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Daniel José|Older}} |
| {{Sortname|Duncan|Tonatiuh}}
| Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras |
| {{Sortname|Jonah|Winter}} Shane W. Evans ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | Lillian's Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 |
| rowspan="6" | 2016
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Jason|Reynolds}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | As Brave as You |
| {{Sortname|Sherman|Alexie}} Yuyi Morales ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | Thunder Boy Jr. |
| {{Sortname|Ashley|Bryan}}
| Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan |
| {{Sortname|Traci|Chee}}
| {{Sortname|The|Reader|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Russell|Freedman}}
| We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler |
| {{Sortname|Meg|Medina}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2017
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Cherie|Dimaline}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|The|Marrow Thieves}} |
| {{Sortname|Jairo|Buitrago}} Rafael Yockteng ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) Elisa Amado ({{Abbr|tr.|translator}}) | Walk with Me |
| {{Sortname|Cao|Wenxuan}} Helen Wang ({{Abbr|tr.|translator}}) Meilo So ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) |
| {{Sortname|Karen|English|nolink=1}}
| It All Comes Down to This |
| {{Sortname|Lilli|L'Arronge}} Madeleine Stratford ({{Abbr|tr.|translator}}) | Me Tall, You Small |
| {{Sortname|Angie|Thomas}}
| {{Sortname|The|Hate U Give}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2018
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|link=Derrick Barnes (author)|first=Derrick|last=Barnes}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut |
| {{Sortname|Elizabeth|Acevedo}}
| {{Sortname|The|Poet X}} |
| {{Sortname|Tomi|Adeyemi}} |
| {{Sortname|Meg|Medina}} |
| {{Sortname|Yuyi|Morales}}
| Dreamers |
| {{Sortname|Jacqueline|Woodson}}
| Harbor Me |
| rowspan="6" | 2019
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Jerry|Craft}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | New Kid |
| {{Sortname|Kwame|Alexander}} Kadir Nelson ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | {{Sortname|The|Undefeated|link=The Undefeated (picture book)}} |
| {{Sortname|Juan Felipe|Herrera}} Lauren Castillo ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | Imagine |
| {{Sortname|Angie|Thomas}} |
| {{Sortname|Juan Pablo|Villalobos}} Rosalind Harvey ({{Abbr|tr.|translator}}) | {{Sortname|The|Other Side|nolink=1}}: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border |
| {{Sortname|Alicia D.|Williams}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2020
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|link=Derrick Barnes (author)|first=Derrick|last=Barnes}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | I Am Every Good Thing |
| {{Sortname|Elizabeth|Acevedo}} |
| {{Sortname|Hanna|Alkaf}}
| {{Sortname|The|Girl and the Ghost|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Kimberly Brubaker|Bradley}}
| Fighting Words |
| {{Sortname|Carole|Lindstrom}} Michaela Goade ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) |
| {{Sort name|Ibram X.|Kendi}} and Jason Reynolds |
| rowspan="6" | 2021
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Christina|Soontornvat}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team |
| {{Sortname|Sharon G.|Flake}}
| {{Sortname|The|Life I'm In|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Nikki|Grimes}}
| Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance |
| {{Sortname|NoNieqa|Ramos}} Jacqueline Alcántara ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | Your Mama |
| {{Sortname|Wai|Chim}}
| {{Sortname|The|Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Carole Boston|Weatherford}} Floyd Cooper ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) |
| rowspan="6" | 2022
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Harmony|Becker}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Himawari House |
| {{Sortname|Betina|Birkjær}} Anna Margrethe Kjærgaard ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) Sinéad Quirke Køngerskov ({{Abbr|trans.|translator}}) | Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost |
| {{Sortname|Rimma|Onoseta}}
| How You Grow Wings |
| {{Sortname|Niki|Smith}}
| {{Sortname|The|Golden Hour|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Anne|Ursu}}
| {{Sortname|The|Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy|nolink=1}} |
| {{Sortname|Jacqueline|Woodson}} Rafael López ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | {{Sortname|The|Year We Learned to Fly}} |
| rowspan="6" | 2023
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Ariel|Aberg-Riger}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History |
| {{Sortname|Valerie|Bolling}} Kaylani Juanita ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | Together We Swim |
| {{Sortname|Louise|Finch}}
| The Eternal Return of Clara Hart |
| {{Sortname|Kiran Millwood|Hargrave}} Tom de Freston ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | Julia and the Shark |
| {{Sortname|Jon|Klassen}}
| The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale |
| {{Sortname|Roger|Mello}} Daniel Hahn ({{Abbr|trans.|translator}}) | João by a Thread |
| rowspan="6" |2024
| style=" background:lightyellow;" | {{Sortname|Kenneth M.|Cadow}} | style=" background:lightyellow;" | Gather |
| {{Sortname|Safia|Elhillo}}
| Bright Red Fruit |
| {{Sortname|Joanna|Ho}} {{Sortname|Amanda|Phingbodhipakkiya}} ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | We Who Produce Pearls |
| {{Sortname|Hiba Noor|Khan}}
| Safiyyah's War |
| {{Sortname|Jason|Reynolds}} {{Sortname|Jerome|Pumphrey}} ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) {{Sortname|Jarrett|Pumphrey}} ({{Abbr|ill.|illustrator}}) | There Was a Party for Langston |
| {{Sortname|Sherri|Winston}}
| Shark Teeth |