The finalists for the 2025 Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize have been revealed, with Lauren Elkin and Alexandra Tanner among the authors in the running for the award given to “promising, up-and-coming women writers.”
Elkin made the shortlist with Scaffolding, her debut novel, while Tanner was named a finalist for her novel Worry.
Alisa Alering was shortlisted for Smothermoss, alongside Amy Jo Burns for Mercury, Bruna Dantas Lobato for Blue Light Hours, Puloma Ghosh for Mouth, and Rachel Lyon for Fruit of the Dead.
The late Katherine Min was named a finalist for The Fetishist, as were Claire Oshetsky for Poor Deer, Ashley Shelby for Honeymoons in Temporary Locations, and Maureen Sun for The Sisters K.
The Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, named after a young editor who died in a car crash, was established in 1976, and is awarded by the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and the Department of English at the University of Rochester. Previous winners include Toni Morrison for Song of Solomon, Ursula K. Le Guin for Always Coming Home, and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton for The Revisioners.
The winner of the 2025 prize will be announced later this year.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
