Crook’s Corner Book Prize 14th Annual Longlist Announced
August 28, 2026
Chapel Hill, North Carolina (August 28, 2026)—The Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation today announced its annual Longlist for best debut novel set in the American South. The $5,000 prize winner will be announced in January 2027.
The 2027 Longlist is:
The Resettlement of Vesta Blonik
by Denise Smith Cline
(Regal House Publishing)
God Is Harder on Girls
by Ella Dodson
(Chapel Hill Press)
If the Dead Belong Here
by Carson Faust
(Viking)
Leaving Edgefield: Carrie Butler’s Story
by Carolyn W. Hooker
(Evening Post Books)
The Fantasies of Future Things
by Doug Jones
(Simon & Schuster)
Junah at the End of the World
by Dan Leach
(Hub City Press)
This Here Is Love
by Princess Joy L. Perry
(W. W. Norton & Company)
To the Moon and Back
by Eliana Ramage
(Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster)
The Slip
by Lucas Schaefer
(Simon & Schuster)
“The depth and diversity of Southern storytelling continues to astound us year after year,” said Anna Hayes, Crook’s Corner Book Prize founder. “This year’s remarkable debut novels represent the evolving landscape of Southern literature, bringing fresh perspectives, distinctive voices and compelling stories to our literary tradition. From historical fiction to contemporary stories of family, identity and belonging, this year’s longlist demonstrates that Southern fiction remains as vital and diverse as ever.”
Judging this year’s Prize is acclaimed author Katy Simpson Smith. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Smith is the author of the novels The Maltese Version, The Story of Land and Sea, Free Men, The Everlasting, and The Weeds, as well as We Have Raised All of You: Motherhood in the South, 1750–1835. She received a PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She currently teaches fiction at the Bennington College Writing Seminars and lives in New Orleans.
The Crook’s Corner Book Prize continues to highlight emerging fiction writers, who typically face some of the toughest obstacles in publishing. Although eligible books must be predominantly set in the South, authors may live anywhere, and all genres of fiction, except for Young Adult, are eligible. The 2026 Prize was awarded in January to Melissa Mogollon’s Oye, published by Hogarth.
The Crook’s Corner Book Prize Shortlist will be announced in September.
For more information on the Prize and submission guidelines, please visit www.CrooksCornerBookPrize.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
About the Crook’s Corner Book Prize
Inspired by the literary prizes awarded by famous Parisian cafés such as the Deux Magots and the Café de Flore, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize honors the iconic Crook’s Corner, which for 40 years was a culinary, literary, and artistic beacon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Sadly, Crook’s Corner closed in 2021. However, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize continues its annual $5,000 award for the best debut novel set in the American South, a fitting homage to the unforgettable restaurant.
Winner Announced for the 13th Annual Crook’s Corner Book Prize
January 6, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Cindy Sellars cindyhsellars@gmail.com
‘Oye’ by Melissa Mogollon, wins 2026 Crook’s Corner Book Prize
$5,000 prize awarded for best debut novel set in the American South
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, JANUARY 12, 2026—“Oye” by Melissa Mogollon, (Hogarth Press) is the winner of the 13th annual Crook’s Corner Book Prize for the best debut novel set in the American South.
Selected by this year’s judge, renowned author and creative writing professor Clyde Edgerton, “Oye” is a coming-of-age story structured as a series of one-sided phone calls from a Colombian-American teenager, Luciana, to her older sister, Mari, during Hurricane Irma in 2017 in South Florida.
“Melissa Mogollon took chances in constructing her novel, ‘Oye,’” Edgerton says. “An entire novel narrated in a series of phone calls? And the reader gets to hear only one of the two speakers? With inserted dialogue flashbacks here and there…I couldn’t stop reading, and the story never slowed down, never missed a beat. The narrative was doused in suspense, tension, and humor. To top off my reading experience: the story deals with the most ancient of groups – family – in the most ancient of ways: through love. Big congratulations to Melissa Mongollon. Watch out – she is bound to surprise and delight readers with a second novel, and for a long time to come.”
The winner was chosen from the Shortlist announced in September 2025. The Shortlist included “Sky Full of Elephants” by Cebo Campbell, Simon & Schuster, “Oye” by Melissa Mogollon, Hogarth Press, and “Like Happiness” by Ursula Villarreal-Moura, Celadon Books.
Melissa Mogollon holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a BA from The George Washington University. Originally from Colombia and raised in Florida, she now teaches at a boarding school in Rhode Island, where she lives with her partner and dog.
The Crook’s Corner Book Prize, established as a collaboration between the iconic Southern restaurant Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation, was inspired by the prestigious book awards long given by famous “literary cafés” in Paris. Submissions are now open for next year’s prize. For more information on the Prize and submission guidelines, please visit crookscornerbookprize.com or follow us on Facebook, and Instagram
Crook’s Corner Book Prize 13th Annual Shortlist Announced
September 17, 2025
CROOK’S CORNER BOOK PRIZE SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED $5,000 Prize to be Awarded for Best Debut Novel Set in the South.
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, SEPTEMBER 17, 2025—Today, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation announces the three finalists for best debut novel set in the American South.
The Shortlist
Sky Full of Elephants
by Cebo Campbell
(Simon & Schuster)
Oye
by Melissa Mogollon
(Hogarth)
Like Happiness
by Ursula Villarreal-Moura
(Macmillan)
About the Crook’s Corner Book Prize
“Every year, we are inspired by the ways emerging novelists bring new perspectives to life in the American South, and we are proud to celebrate and elevate their voices,” says Anna Hayes, Foundation President.
The winner of the $5000 prize will be announced in January 2026. Although eligible books must be predominantly set in the South, authors may live anywhere, and all genres of fiction, except for Young Adult, are eligible.
Judging for this year’s Prize is acclaimed author Clyde Edgerton. Edgerton is the author of ten novels, a book of advice, a memoir, short stories, and essays. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and five of his novels have been New York Times Notable Books. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and teaches creative writing at UNC Wilmington.
About the Crook’s Corner Book Prize
Inspired by the literary prizes awarded by famous Parisian cafés such as the Deux Magots and the Café de Flore, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize honors the iconic Crook’s Corner, which for 40 years was a culinary, literary, and artistic beacon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Sadly, Crook’s Corner closed in 2021. However, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize continues its annual award, a fitting homage to the unforgettable restaurant. For more information on the Prize and submission guidelines, please visit www.CrooksCornerBookPrize.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Crook’s Corner Book Prize 13th Annual Longlist Announced
July 24, 2025
Chapel Hill, North Carolina (July 22, 2025)—The Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation today announced its annual Longlist for best debut novel set in the American South. The $5,000 prize winner will be announced in January 2026.
The 2025 Longlist is:
Plum
by Andy Anderegg
(Hub City)
Sky Full of Elephants
by Cebo Campbell
(Simon & Schuster)
The Bright Years
by Sarah Damoff
(Simon & Schuster)
Junie
by Erin Crosby Eckstine
(Ballantine Books)
Red Clay
by Charles B. Fancher
(Blackstone)
Shield the Joyous
by Chad Holley
(Bull City Books)
Oye
by Melissa Mogollon
(Hogarth)
Bright and Tender Dark
by Joanna Pearson
(Bloomsbury)
Pearce Oysters
by Joselyn Takacs
(Zibby Publishers)
Like Happiness
by Ursula Villarreal-Moura
(Macmillan)
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water
by Shawn Nocher
(Blackstone Publishing)
The Violin Conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb
(Anchor)
Judging for this year’s Prize is acclaimed author Clyde Edgerton. Edgerton is the author of ten novels, a book of advice, a memoir, short stories, and essays. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and five of his novels have been New York Times Notable Books. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and teaches creative writing at UNC Wilmington. Edgerton is widely considered one of the premier novelists working in the Southern tradition today.
“The depth and diversity of Southern storytelling continues to astound us year after year,” said Anna Hayes, Foundation President. “These ten remarkable debut novels represent the evolving landscape of Southern literature, each bringing fresh perspectives and voices to our literary tradition. From intimate family sagas to sweeping historical narratives, this year’s longlist demonstrates that Southern fiction remains as vital as ever.”
The Crook’s Corner Book Prize continues to highlight emerging fiction writers, who typically face some of the toughest obstacles in publishing. Although eligible books must be predominantly set in the South, authors may live anywhere, and all genres of fiction, except for Young Adult, are eligible. The 2025 Prize was awarded in January to Thao Thai’s “Banyan Moon,” published by HarperCollins.
The Crook’s Corner Book Prize Shortlist will be announced in September.
For more information on the Prize and submission guidelines, please visit www.CrooksCornerBookPrize.com or follow us on Facebook, and Instagram.
About the Crook’s Corner Book Prize
Inspired by the literary prizes awarded by famous Parisian cafés such as the Deux Magots and the Café de Flore, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize honors the iconic Crook’s Corner, which for 40 years was a culinary, literary, and artistic beacon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Sadly, Crook’s Corner closed in 2021. However, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize continues its annual award, a fitting homage to the unforgettable restaurant.
Winner Announced for the 12th Annual Crook’s Corner Book Prize
January 6, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Cindy Sellars cindyhsellars@gmail.com
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai wins 2025 Crook’s Corner Book Prize
$5,000 prize awarded for best debut novel set in the American South
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, January 6, 2025—Banyan Moon by Thao Thai (Mariner Books) is the winner of the twelfth annual Crook’s Corner Book Prize for the best debut novel set in the American South.
Selected by this year’s judge, award-winning author Megan Mayhew Bergman, Banyan Moon is a “sweeping, evocative novel following three generations of Vietnamese American women reeling from the death of their matriarch, revealing the family’s inherited burdens, buried secrets, and unlikely love stories.”
Bergman says:
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai is a striking debut novel that will captivate readers with its stunning prose and lush descriptions of the surrounding world. Through the compelling narratives of three generations of Vietnamese American women – who are destabilized by the death of their matriarch – Thai reveals the family’s inherited burdens and secrets in gorgeous sentences and smart dialogue. With deeply developed characters, this incredibly moving book invites us to explore the complex bonds of love and family, making it a deserving selection for the Crooks Corner Book Prize.
The winner was chosen from the Shortlist announced in September 2024. The three shortlisted titles also included Coleman Hill by Kim Foote (SJP Lit) and Fireworks Every Night by Beth Raymer (Penguin Random House).
Thao is also a recipient of the 2024 Ohio Arts Council’s Individual Excellence Award. Her work has been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, WIRED, Elle, Lit Hub, and other publications. She lives in central Ohio with her husband and daughter.
The Crook’s Corner Book Prize, established as a collaboration between the iconic Southern restaurant Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation, was inspired by the prestigious book awards long given by famous “literary cafés” in Paris. Submissions are now open for next year’s prize. For more information on the Prize and submission guidelines, please visit www.crookscornerbookprize.com or follow us on Facebook, and Instagram.
Crook’s Corner Book Prize 12th Annual Shortlist Announced
September 17, 2024
The Shortlist
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai (Mariner Books/Harper Collins)
Spanning decades and continents, from 1960s Vietnam to the wild swamplands of the Florida coast, “Banyan Moon” is a stunning and deeply moving story of mothers and daughters, the things we inherit, and the lives we choose to make out of that inheritance.
Coleman Hill
by Kim Foote
(SJP Lit)
“Coleman Hill” is the exhilarating story of two American families whose fates become intertwined in the wake of the Great Migration. Braiding fact and fiction, it is a remarkable, character-rich tour de force exploring the ties that bind three generations.
Fireworks Every Night
by Beth Raymer
(Penguin Random House)
This tumultuous coming-of-age novel features an unforgettable protagonist, a character who narrates her life story with dark comedy and compassion for her family, even as she is failed by them. Those failures are the backbone of this surprisingly poignant story about hard bargains, family loyalties, and the grit of a woman determined to create a better life for herself than the one she was born into.
About the Crook’s Corner Book Prize
Although eligible books must be predominantly set in the South, authors may live anywhere, and all genres of fiction, except for Young Adult, are eligible.
Judging for this year’s Prize is Megan Mayhew Bergman. She is the author of the short story collections “Birds of a Lesser Paradise,” “Almost Famous Women,” and “How Strange A Season,” which was longlisted for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Fiction Prize, the Story Prize, and the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. In 2019, her column for The Guardian on the American South and climate change won the Reed Environmental Journalism Award from the Southern Environmental Law Center. She is now the Director of the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Conference at Middlebury College, where she also teaches in the undergraduate Creative Writing Department.
Inspired by the literary prizes awarded by famous Parisian cafés such as the Deux Magots and the Café de Flore, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize honors the iconic Crook’s Corner, which for 40 years was a culinary, literary, and artistic beacon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Sadly, Crook’s Corner closed in 2021. However, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize will continue its annual award, a fitting homage to the unforgettable restaurant. For more information on the Prize and submission guidelines, please visit www.CrooksCornerBookPrize.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
CONTACT:
Cindy Sellars cindyhsellars@gmail.com
