The National Book Foundation has announced its 2017 Five Under 35 honorees, a group of debut fiction writers under the age of 35 whose work "promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape."
The 2017 Five Under 35 Honorees are:
- Lesley Nneka Arimah, author of What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky: Stories (Riverhead), selected by Chris Bachelder, 2016 National Book Award finalist for fiction
- Halle Butler, author of Jillian (Curbside Splendor), selected by Lydia Millet, 2016 National Book Award longlisted author for fiction
- Zinzi Clemmons, author of What We Lose (Viking), selected by Angela Flournoy, 2015 National Book Award finalist for fiction and Five Under 35 honoree
- Leopoldine Core, author of When Watched: Stories (Penguin), selected by Karan Mahajan, 2016 National Book Award finalist for fiction
- Weike Wang, author of Chemistry (Knopf), selected by Sherman Alexie, 2007 National Book Award winner for Young People’s Literature
Each honored author is selected by a former National Book Award winner or finalist, or a fellow writer previously recognized by the Five Under 35 program. Authors from around the world are eligible, so long as they are under the age of 35 and have published their first and only book of fiction—either a short story collection or a novel—within the last five years.
“For the last twelve years, the National Book Foundation has been committed to highlighting the exceptional talent of emerging writers and to amplifying new voices,” Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation, said in a statement. “At a moment in which we are having the necessary conversations surrounding the underrepresentation of female voices, it’s a thrill to see this list of tremendous women chosen organically by our selectors."
This year’s honorees have been published in publications including the New Yorker, the Paris Review Daily, Glimmer Train, Ploughshares, Proximity magazine, and Zoetrope: All Story. Previous honorees include Brit Bennett, Yaa Gyasi, Valeria Luiselli, Karen Russell, Justin Torres, and Claire Vaye Watkins, and Molly Antopol, as well as National Book Award finalists Angela Flournoy and Téa Obreht, and 2014 National Book Award winner Phil Klay.
The 2017 Five Under 35 honorees will be celebrated at an invitation-only ceremony on November 13 in New York. Each honoree will receive a $1,000 prize, which is sponsored by the Amazon Literary Partnership.