The finalists for the 2025 Gotham Book Prize have been revealed, with 14 authors in the running for the award that honors “the best book published that calendar year—either fiction or nonfiction—that either is about New York City or takes place in New York City.”
Rumaan Alam made the shortlist for his novel Entitlement; he was previously a finalist for the prize in 2021 with Leave the World Behind. Xochitl Gonzalez was named a finalist for Anita de Monte Laughs Last, along with Muriel Leung for How To Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster, Lisa Ko for Memory Piece, Yasmin Zaher for The Coin, and Andrew Boryga for Victim.
Tricia Romano was named a finalist for The Freaks Came Out To Write, which is also shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. The other nonfiction books making the Gotham Prize shortlist were Ian Frazier’s Paradise Bronx, Prithi Kanakamedala’s Brooklynites, Guy Trebay’s Do Something, Joél Leon’s Everything and Nothing at Once, Nicole Gelinas’ Movement, Karen Valby’s The Swans of Harlem, and Anna Akbari’s There Is No Ethan.
The Gotham Book Prize was established in 2020 by Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson. Previous winners include Deacon King Kong by James McBride, Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott, and Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead.
The winner of this year’s prize will be announced in the spring.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
