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First Novel Prize

2012 First Novel Prize

The Center for Fiction

The Center for Fiction 2012 First Novel Prize (then called the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize) was awarded to Ben Fountain for his debut novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Ecco/HarperCollins). Read about Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk below and browse 2012’s shortlisted titles.

This annual award was created in 2006 to honor the best first novel of the year. Debut novels published between January 1 and December 31 of the award year are eligible. The winner is announced in December at our Annual Awards Benefit.


Winner

  • Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (Ecco/HarperCollins)

Shortlist

  • Absolution by Patrick Flanery (Riverhead Books/Penguin)
  • Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson (Grove Press, an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.)
  • The Dog Stars by Peter Heller(Alfred A. Knopf)
  • Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
  • Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead (Alfred A. Knopf)
  • The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company)
  • The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers (Little, Brown and Company)