Submissions: Open | Deadline May 15, 2025

About the Crook’s Corner Book Prize

Crooks Corner Book Prize 11th Annual Longlist Announced

The Crook’s Corner Book Prize is awarded for the best debut novel set in the American South. The Prize is intended to encourage emerging writers, whether published by established publishing houses, small independent publishers, or self-published by the author.

An iconic restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for 40 years, Crook’s Corner was a keystone in the pantheon of contemporary Southern cuisine. The Book Prize was inspired not only by the literary tradition of the American South but also by the famous literary cafés of Paris. The Deux Magots, the Flore, and Brasserie Lipp, for example, have for many years awarded prestigious writers’ prizes.

The connection between the literary life and café culture is a close one, as the French know well. “It seemed a natural evolution for Crook’s, which is so interwoven with the arts and the literary community, to honor emerging writers,” says Crook’s chef Bill Smith emeritus, himself an author. The restaurant, whose walls were lined with the work of local artists, had a long history as a favorite dining spot for local and visiting writers, artists, and musicians.

Sadly, Crook’s Corner closed in 2021. However, the Crook’s Corner Book Prize will continue its annual award of $5,000 for the best debut novel set in the American South, a fitting homage to the unforgettable restaurant.

Submissions: Open

Deadline May 15, 2025

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12TH Annual SHORTLIST

12TH Annual Longlist

11TH ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE WINNER

The Old Place
by Bobby Finger
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11th Annual Announcement Party

2024 Announcement Party at The Crunkleton— Winner Bobby Finger with this year’s judge Wiley Cash and CCBP president Anna Hayes

11th Annual Readers' Party

Author Jill McCorkle and Algonquin Books co-founder Shannon Ravenel join CCBP Readers attending this year’s Thank You party.

10TH ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE WINNER

Shadows of Pecan Hollow
by Caroline Frost
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THE 10TH ANNUAL SHORTLIST

THE 9TH ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE WINNER

Things We Lost to the Water
by Eric Nguyen
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HOSTED BY

THE 10TH ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE JUDGE

Ben Fountain was born in Chapel Hill and grew up in eastern North Carolina. His most recent book is Beautiful Country Burn Again, a narrative, with history, of the 2016 presidential election. He is also the author of the novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, which was adapted for film by three-time Oscar winner Ang Lee, and the short story collection Brief Encounters with Che Guevara.
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THE 2021 BOOK PRIZE WINNER

LIBRARY PANEL

THE 2022 BOOK PRIZE JUDGE

Ron Rash is the author of the PEN/Faulkner finalist and New York Times bestselling novel Serena, in addition to the critically acclaimed novels The Risen, Above the Waterfall, The Cove, One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River, and The World Made Straight…
More about Ron Rash

THE 2020 BOOK PRIZE WINNER

Atlas of Reds and Blues

by Devi S. Laskar
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