The Center for Fiction 2021 First Novel Fête featured dramatic readings from the 2021 First Novel Prize shortlist performed by Danesh Razvi, Leah Lewis, Danielle Deadwyler, Hong Chau, Alia Shawkat, Marin Ireland, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.
The actors were introduced by the 2021 First Novel Prize finalists, Priyanka Champaneri (The City of Good Death), Linda Rui Feng (Swimming Back to Trout River), Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois), Violet Kupersmith (Build Your House Around My Body), Patricia Lockwood (No One Is Talking About This), Jackie Polzin (Brood), and Kirstin Valdez Quade (The Five Wounds).
