The librarians at the Topsfield Town Library have developed this resource to highlight books that have been awarded some of the most prestigious prizes in book publishing over the most recent several years.
Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to “the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction …” (Source: Nobel Prize website)
2022: Annie Ernaux
2021: Abdulrazak Gurnah
2020: Louise Gluck
2019: Peter Handke
2018: Olga Tokarczuk
Pulitzer Prize in Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize in Fiction is awarded to “distinguished fiction published in book form during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life.” (Source: Pulitzer Prize website)
2023: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and Trust by Hernan Diaz
Finalists: The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara
2022: The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen
Finalists: Monkey Boy by Fransisco Goldman, Palmares by Gayl Jones
2021: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Finalists: A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth by Daniel Mason, Telephone by Percival Everett
2020: The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Finalists: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
National Book Award for Fiction
The National Book Award for Fiction is awarded to a piece of fiction written by an American author (see full guidelines here).
2022 : The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
Finalists: The Birdcatcher by Gayl Jones, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai, All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews
2021: Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
Finalists: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, Matrix by Lauren Groff, Zorrie by Laird Hunt, The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.
2020: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Finalists: Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam, A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw, Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
2019: Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Finalists: Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James, The Other Americans by Laila Lalami, Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction honors the best published works of fiction by American permanent residents in a calendar year. (Source)
2023: The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery, Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell, The Islands by Dionne Irving, Fruiting Bodies by Kathryn Harlan.
2022: The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine
Finalists: Radiant Fugitives by Nawaaz Admed, The President and the Frog by Carolina de Robertis, Dear Miss Metropolitan by Carolyn Ferrell, How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
2021:The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
Finalists: Disappear Doppelganger Disappear by Matthew Salesses, The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe, Mother Daughter Widow Wife by Robin Wasserman, Scattered Lights by Steve Wiegenstein
2020: Sea Monsters by Chole Aridjis
Finalists: Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li, The Night Swimmers by Peter Rock, We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Booker Prize
Each year, the Booker Prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best sustained work of fiction written in English and published in the UK and Ireland. (Source)
2022: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilak
Finalists: Glory by Noviolet Bulawayo, Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, The Trees by Percival Everett, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka, Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout, Treacle Walker by Alan Garner
2021: The Promise by Damon Galgut
2020: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
2019: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
2018: Milkman by Anna Burns
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction, established in 2012, recognize the best fiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year and serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading material. It is awarded during the Midwinter American Library Association conference. (Source)
2023: The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
Shortlisted: The Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty, Greenland by David Santos Donaldson
2022: The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin
2021: Deacon King Kong by James McBride
2020: Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli
2019: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
2018: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
New England Book Award in Fiction
The New England Book Award in Fiction is awarded to adult fiction materials either about New England, set in New England, or written by an author residing in New England. (Source)
2023 Finalists: When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar, Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy, Yellowface by RF Kuang, Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott, Confessions of Matthew Strong by Ousmane K. Power-Greene
2022: Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
Finalists: Babel by R.F. Kuang, Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra, Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel, The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon
2021: Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
2020: Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
2019: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
2018: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Barbara Gittings Literature Award (Stonewall Award)
Sponsored by the American Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table, the Barbara Gittings Literature Stonewall Award is honored for exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience. (Source)
2022: Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Finalists: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki, Black Girl, Call Home by Jasmine Mans, Stone Fruit by Lee Lai, A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
2021: Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
2020: Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis
2019: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
2018: Meanwhile, Elsewhere edited by Cat Fitzpatrick and Casey Plett
Lambda Literary Awards
In 1989, the Lambda Literary Awards were created to garner national visibility for LGBTQ books, which had established a foothold through a nascent network of lesbian and gay publishers and bookstores. (Source)
Transgender Fiction
2023 Finalists
All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From by Izzy Wasserstein
Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta by James Hannaham
Manywhere by Morgan Thomas
The Call-Out by Cat Fitzpatrick
Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane
2022: Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton
2021: Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
2020: Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane Plante
2019: Little Fish by Casey Plett
Bisexual Fiction
2023 Finalists
Meet Us by the Roaring Sea by Akil Kumarasamy
Mother Ocean Father Nation by Nishant Batsha
Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste
Roses, In the Mouth of a Lion by Bushra Rehman
Stories No One Hopes Are About Them by A.J. Bermudez
2022: We Want What We Want by Alix Ohlin
2021: You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
2020: Exquisite Mariposa by Fiona Alison Duncan
2019: Disoriental by Negar Djavadi
Gay Fiction
2023 Finalists
Call Me Cassandra by Marcial Gala
The Foghorn Echoes by Danny Ramadan
God’s Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu
Hugs and Cuddles by João Gilberto Noll
My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson
2022: 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell
2021: Neotenica by Joon Oluchi Lee
2020: Lot by Bryan Washington
2019: Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
Lesbian Fiction
2023 Finalists
Big Girl by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang
Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
2022: Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie
2021: Fiebre Tropical by Juliana Delgado Lopera
2020: Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
2019: The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai
