Geraldine Brooks will receive the 2025 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, which honors "an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished by not only its mastery of the art, but also its originality of thought and imagination.... The award seeks to recognize strong, unique, enduring voices that, throughout long and consistently accomplished careers, have told us something about the American experience." The award will be presented to Brooks at the National Book Festival on September 6, where the author will discuss her latest book, Memorial Days: A Memoir (Viking).
"One of the reasons we invited Geraldine Brooks to become the next Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction winner is how she makes readers feel. She invites readers into her narratives with such grace and infectious energy and helps us understand the lives of characters who might have lived in other times and other places," said acting Librarian of Congress Robert Randolph Newlen. "She has moved millions of American readers, and readers around the world. We are deeply honored that Geraldine is joining us to accept this prize."
Brooks commented: "I am honored by this wonderful prize from America's greatest library. As a writer inspired by history, it is moving to be connected by the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction to the institution created by John Adams for the very first Congress, saved by Thomas Jefferson after the conflagration of 1812, and carried into the present by visionary librarians who value inclusion, free expression and truth."
Brooks was awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel March. Her other novels include People of the Book, Caleb's Crossing, The Secret Chord, Horse, and Year of Wonders, which has been translated into more than 30 languages. As a journalist, she reported for the Sydney Morning Herald and covered crises in the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans for the Wall Street Journal. She and her late husband, journalist and author Tony Horwitz, won the Overseas Press Club Award for best coverage of the Gulf War.