Editor-in-Chief Tom Beer dishes on the Kirkus Prize ahead of this year’s ceremony.
We’re just one week away from the 11th annual Kirkus Prize ceremony—live from New York City—and we couldn’t be more excited.
In this special episode of Fully Booked, editor-in-chief Tom Beer joins us to discuss what makes a book Kirkus Prize–worthy, the ethos of the prize, and the making of this year’s awards ceremony. Then Kirkus editors’ Laura Simeon, Laurie Muchnick, Mahnaz Dar, and John McMurtrie join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the monthslong Kirkus Prize process.
Created to honor decades of honest industry-first reviews, the Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world. We give three awards of $50,000—in fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature—to creators whose outstanding work, we believe, has the power to transport readers and transform the world. Any book that receives a starred review from a Kirkus critic during the previous 12 months is eligible for the prize. This year’s awards will go to titles published between Nov. 1, 2023 and Oct. 31, 2024.
The 2024 Kirkus Prizes will be presented at Tribeca Rooftop on Wednesday, Oct. 16, in a ceremony emceed by Beer, with remarks by publisher and CEO Meg LaBorde Kuehn. If you can’t join us in person, please visit our YouTube channel, where the ceremony will be livestreamed beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
THE 2024 KIRKUS PRIZE FINALISTS:
FICTION:
Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet (Simon & Schuster)
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich (Harper/HarperCollins)
James by Percival Everett (Doubleday)
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Atlantic Monthly)
Playground by Richard Powers (Norton)
Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (Morrow/HarperCollins)
NONFICTION:
The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll (Penguin Press)
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham (Avid Reader Press)
Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise by Olivia Laing (Norton)
Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America by Shefali Luthra (Doubleday)
Another Word for Love: A Memoir by Carvell Wallace (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
YOUNG READERS’ LITERATURE:
Picture Books:
We Who Produce Pearls by Joanna Ho, illus. by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (Orchard/Scholastic)
There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds, illus. by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey (Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum)
Middle Grade:
Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan (Allida/HarperCollins)
Shark Teeth by Sherri Winston (Bloomsbury)
Young Adult:
Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow (Candlewick)
Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo (Make Me a World)
THANKS TO OUR SPONSOR:
Born in Space by Jeremy Clift
Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.
