Crook's Corner Book Prize 10th Annual Longlist Announced
July 12, 2022
Chapel Hill, North Carolina—The Crook’s Corner Book Prize Foundation today announced its annual Longlist for best debut novel set in the American South. The $5,000 literary prize winner will be announced in January 2023.
The Longlist is:
Groundskeeping
by Lee Cole
(Knopf)
Black Cloud Rising
by David Wright Faladé
(Grove Atlantic)
Here Lies
by Olivia Claire Friedman
(Grove Atlantic)
Shadows of Pecan Hollow
by Caroline Frost
(Morrow/HarperCollins)
The Sweetness of Water
by Nathan Harris
(Little, Brown and company)
Between The Tides
by Angel Khoury
(Dzanc Books)
All Her Little Secrets
by Wanda M. Morris
(Morrow/HarperCollins)
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water
by Shawn Nocher
(Blackstone Publishing)
The Violin Conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb
(Anchor)
Bewilderness
by Karen Tucker
(Catapult)
A Hand to Hold in Deep Water
by Shawn Nocher
(Blackstone Publishing)
The Violin Conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb
(Anchor)
“Whatever challenges recent years have presented, they have not dampened the creative urge, as is obvious from this outstanding list of debut novels,” said Anna Hayes, Foundation President.
The Crook’s Corner Book Prize, now in its tenth year, aims 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 2022 Prize, awarded in January, went to Eric Nguyen’s “Things We Lost to the Water.”
Judging for this year’s Prize will be Ben Fountain. 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.” His work has received the National Book Critics’ Circle Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, and a Whiting Writer’s Award, and has been a finalist for the National Book Award. His novel “The Jacmel Wreck” will appear in 2023.
The Crooks Corner Book Prize Foundation Shortlist will be announced in September.
About Crooks Corner Book Prize Foundation
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.
