Elizabeth Strout has won the Story Prize for Anything Is Possible (Random House). After an evening of readings by and conversation with the three finalists last night in New York City, she received $20,000 and an engraved silver bowl.
The judges praised the winner: "The intelligent prose is seemingly humble but elegant in its subtlety and enchanting in its overall effect. The blade of her wit is so sharp, you barely feel it until after the slice. Strout is a specialist in the reticence of people, and her characters are compelling because of the complexity of their internal lives, and the clarity with which that complexity is depicted. It is a sublime pleasure to read her work."
The runnersup--Daniel Alarcón for The King Is Always Above the People (Riverhead Books) and Ottessa Moshfegh for Homesick for Another World (Penguin Press)--each received $5,000.
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Finalists have been announced for the Children's Book Award 2018, which is coordinated by the Federation of Children's Book Groups and voted for by children across the U.K. Category winners and the author of the best children's book will be unveiled June 9 at an awards ceremony in London. This year's shortlisted titles are:
Books for Younger Children
Edgar and the Sausage Inspector by Jan Fearnley
Mrs. Mole, I'm Home! by Jarvis
The Secret of Black Rock by Joe Todd-Stanton
I Dare You by Reece Wykes
Books for Younger Readers
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell
The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Books for Older Readers
I Have No Secrets by Penny Joelson
Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen
Ink by Alice Broadway