August 3, 2023
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 prize winner will be announced in January 2024.
The Longlist is:
The Gospel of Rot
by Gregory Ariail
(Mercer University Press)
It Dies with You
by Scott Blackburn
(Crooked Lane Books, Penguin Random House)
The Old Place
by Bobby Finger
(G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Penguin Random House)
Hestia Strikes a Match by Christine Grillo (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Macmillan Publishers)
In Circling Flight
by Jane Harrington
(Brighthouse Books)
Indigo Field
by Marjorie Hudson
(Regal House Publishing)
Traces
by Patricia L. Hudson
(Fireside Industries, The University Press of Kentucky)
Moonrise Over New Jessup
by Jamila Minnicks
(Algonquin Books, Hachette Book
Group)
Night Wherever We Go
by Tracey Rose Peyton
(Ecco, HarperCollins Publishers)
Memphis
by Tara M. Stringfellow
(The Dial Press, Penguin Random House)
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 will be Wiley Cash. Cash is an award-winning and New York Times best-selling author of four novels and the founder of This is Working. He has published widely on issues ranging from the environment to history to foodways to music. He serves as the Alumni Author-in-Residence at UNC-Asheville and lives in North Carolina.
“Ten years ago Wiley Cash’s “A Land More Kind Than Home” won the first Crook’s Corner Book Prize for best debut novel set in the American South. This year, having become a New York Times best-selling novelist, he will be the judge who chooses our winner. We are proud to have been among the first to recognize the talent in his debut novel. This is the kind of career trajectory we have endeavored to foster for new writers over the past ten years!” said Anna Hayes, Foundation President.
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 2023 Prize was awarded in January to Caroline Frost’s “Shadows of Pecan Hollow” (Morrow, HarperCollins Publishers).
The Crook’s Corner Book Prize Shortlist will be announced in September.
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 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.
