Kirkus Prize 2018 winners announced

30 October 2018 Books+Publishing

US publication Kirkus Reviews has announced the winners of its fifth annual literary prize. Each of the Kirkus Prize winners receives US$50,000 (A$70,830).

Ling Ma won the fiction prize for Severance (Text), with the judges describing the novel as ‘smart, funny, humane, and superbly well-written’.

Rebecca Solnit won the nonfiction prize for Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays) (Granta). The judges said: ‘Solnit is careful with her words (she always is) but never so much that she mutes the infuriated spirit that drives these essays.’

Derrick Barnes won the children’s literature prize for Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut (illus by Gordon C James, Agate Publishing), which was praised as ‘one of the best reads for young black boys in years, it should be in every library, media center, and, yes, barbershop’.

This year’s judges included author Sandra Cisneros, YA author Marie Lu and critic Carina Chocano, in addition to writers, reviewers, booksellers and a librarian. Three judges in each category considered a total of 1193 titles for this year’s award, with books that earned a Kirkus Star being automatically nominated.

For more information about the winners, and to see the list of finalists, visit the Kirkus website.

Category: International news