Press Release — November 12, 2020
The Center for Fiction Announces 2020 Annual Awards Benefit Honorees
New York, NY (November 12, 2020) – The Center For Fiction is pleased to announce its Annual Awards benefit honoring individuals who have made outstanding contributions to fiction this year. The event will take place virtually on Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 7:30 PM EST.
The night will be emceed by actor, comedian, and writer Yvonne Orji with additional appearances by Laura Benanti, Lucy Boynton, and more to be announced.
“This Awards Benefit is a jubilee in celebration of the power of imagination and the will for social justice,” said The Center’s Board of Directors Chair Erroll McDonald.
The Center for Fiction’s On Screen Award will be presented by actor and writer Ethan Hawke both to author and screenwriter James McBride and to Executive Vice President of Nonfiction Programming for Showtime Networks Vinnie Malhotra for “The Good Lord Bird.” The award honors the groundbreaking creation of original works on film and television that mirror the complexity and vision of great novels.
The Medal for Editorial Excellence will be presented by Ta-Nehisi Coates to Chris Jackson, Publisher and Editor-In-Chief of One World, a newly relaunched imprint of Random House. This award recognizes an editor, publisher, or agent who over the course of their career has discovered, nurtured, and championed writers of fiction in the United States.
The winner of The First Novel Prize, which recognizes the year’s best debut novel, will be announced that evening. The winner will be selected by a panel of distinguished American writers, including Stefan Merrill Block, Halle Butler, Jenny Offill, and the 2019 winner De’Shawn Charles Winslow. This award carries with it a prize of $15,000.
The Short List for the First Novel Prize is as follows:
Indelicacy by Amina Cain (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan)
These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card (Simon & Schuster)
Temporary by Hilary Leichter (Emily Books / Coffee House Press)
Luster by Raven Leilani (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan)
The Redshirt by Corey Sobel (University Press of Kentucky)
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press / Grove Atlantic)
How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang (Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House)
This year’s benefit will be free for anyone who wishes to attend. To register online, please visit centerforfiction.org/benefit.
Prior to the start of the benefit, The Center for Fiction will also be hosting “The First Novel Fete,” a celebratory cocktail hour beginning at 6:30 PM ET that will highlight each of the seven finalists for The First Novel Prize with excerpts performed by actors, including Marin Ireland, Leon Addison Brown, Eisa Davis and Morven Christie. Guests tuning in will also have the chance to win prizes during the event by participating in live literary trivia. Admission to this event is a suggested $20 contribution, and tickets are available at centerforfiction.org/fete.
The benefit Chairs are Mary Jo and Ted Shen. Co-Chairs for this event include Celia and Henry McGee, Marva Smalls, Zibby Owens, Stephen Graham, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Whelan, David Michalek, Eisa Davis, André Holland, and Marissa Alperin and John Lowe.
The Fête Co-Chairs include Carrie Howland, Jenna Johnson, Noah Ballard, Flora Esterly, Emily Firetog, Naomi Gibbs, Michelle Herrara-Mulligan, Siobhan Jones, May-Zhee Lim, Allison Malecha, and Soumeya Roberts.
Funds raised during the The First Novel Fete and the Annual Awards Benefit will support The Center For Fiction’s public performance events, KidsRead/KidsWrite programming, and Emerging Writers Fellowships.
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR FICTION
The Center for Fiction, now located in downtown Brooklyn’s cultural arts district, brings diverse communities together as readers and writers of all ages to convene, create, and connect over a shared love of literature. In February 2019, the 200-year-old literary nonprofit opened its stunning, 18K sq-foot space at 15 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene to offer New Yorkers a vibrant literary home. The new Center includes an exceptional library, performance space, curated bookstore, cafe, terrace bar, and writer’s studio, as well as a rich series of writing workshops and reading groups, which are now available online. Its First Novel Prize and Emerging Writers Fellowships present exceptional professional opportunities for early-career authors. Its KidsRead and KidsWrite programs engage New York City students in grades K-12 from under-resourced public schools with stimulating educational and cultural experiences, including meeting favorite authors in lively Center events. Under the leadership of chairman Erroll McDonald, the organization has expanded its mission to include storytelling in all its forms, integrating music, theater, dance, film/TV, and visual arts in its public programming.