First Among Men: George Washington and the Myth of American Masculinity by Maurizio Valsania (Johns Hopkins University Press) has won the $50,000 2023 George Washington Prize. Conferred by George Washington's Mount Vernon, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and Washington College, the award honors "the year's best new books on the nation's founding era, especially those that have the potential to advance a broad public understanding of early American history."
The jury chose three other finalists: Mary Sarah Bilder for Female Genius: Eliza Harriot and George Washington at the Dawn of the Constitution (University of Virginia Press); Fred Kaplan for His Masterly Pen: A Biography of Jefferson the Writer (Harper); and Stacy Schiff for The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams (Little, Brown).
Organizers described the winning title this way: "In First Among Men: George Washington and the Myth of American Masculinity, Valsania considers Washington's complexity and apparent contradictions in three main areas: his physical life (often bloody, cold, injured, muddy, or otherwise unpleasant), his emotional world (sentimental, loving, and affectionate), and his social persona (carefully constructed and maintained). In each, he notes, the reality diverges from the legend quite drastically. Ultimately, Valsania challenges readers to reconsider what they think they know about Washington."
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The shortlist for the 2023 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize has been selected. The winner, who receives $15,000, will be announced on December 5 at the Center for Fiction Annual Awards Benefit.
The shortlist:
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo (Ecco)
Lookout by Christine Byl (Deep Vellum/A Strange Object)
Pay As You Go by Eskor David Johnson (McSweeney's)
Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks (Algonquin Books)
Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton (Ecco)
We Are a Haunting by Tyriek White (Astra House)
Y/N by Esther Yi (Astra House)