Kirstin Valdez Quade Wins 2021 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
The Center for Fiction has awarded Kirstin Valdez Quade, author of The Five Wounds (Norton), the 2021 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Quade is also the author of the story collection Night at the Fiestas, winner of the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize.
The award was announced at the Center for Fiction’s Annual Awards Benefit and 200th Anniversary Celebration on December 7th, 2021. Last year’s winner, Raven Leilani, presented Quade with the award and a prize of $15,000.
The Five Wounds was selected by a panel comprising Alexander Chee, Susan Choi, Yaa Gyasi, Leilani, and Dinaw Mengestu. The shortlist comprised: The City of Good Death by Priyanka Champaneri, Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith, No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood, and Brood by Jackie Polzin. Shortlisted authors each received $1,000.
