The shortlist for the $15,000 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize has been selected. Each shortlisted author receives $1,000. The winner will be named December 10 at the Center for Fiction Annual Awards Benefit. This year's shortlisted titles are
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel (Viking)
The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao (Flatiron Books)
They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar (Zando/SJP Lit)
Ask Me Again by Clare Sestanovich (Knopf)
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty (Tin House)
God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer by Joseph Earl Thomas (Grand Central Publishing)
Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga (Tin House)
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Shortlists have been released for the £2,000 (about $2,615) Polari Prize, the £1,000 (about $1,305) Polari First Book Prize, and the £1,000 Polari Children's and YA Prize, the Bookseller reported. The U.K. awards, honoring emerging and established LGBTQ+ writers, are sponsored by FMcM Associates, DHH Literary Agency, and Ash Literary Agency. The winners' prize ceremony will be held November 29. This year's shortlisted titles are:
Polari Book Prize
Killing Jericho by William Hussey
The Gallopers by Jon Ransom
The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants by Orlando Ortega-Medina
Forty Lies by David Shenton
Blue Hunger by Viola Di Grado, translated by Jamie Richards
Hard Drive by Paul Stephenson
Polari First Book Prize
Neon Roses by Rachel Dawson
Local Fires by Joshua Jones
Sunburn by Chloe Michelle
Bellies by Nicola Dinan
Greekling by Kostya Tsolakis
Transitional: In One Way or Another, We All Transition by Munroe Bergdorf
Polari Children's and YA Prize
Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn
Out of the Blue by Robert Tregoning
The Fights that Make Us by Sarah Hagger-Holt
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
Away With Words by Sophie Cameron