The New York Public Library announced the finalists for its Young Lions Fiction Award, with five authors in contention for the literary prize given each year to a book by an author aged 35 or younger.
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah made the shortlist for Chain-Gang All-Stars, his novel about two women gladiators forced to fight for their freedom in a dystopian version of America. The book was previously a finalist for the National Book Award.
C Pam Zhang was named a finalist for her climate disaster–themed Land of Milk and Honey, while E.J. Koh was shortlisted for The Liberators, about a Korean immigrant to California in the 1980s.
Monica Brashears made the shortlist for House of Cotton, about a woman who takes a job posing as a corpse in a funeral home, while Eskor David Johnson was named a finalist for Pay as You Go, which follows a barber on a surreal quest to find the perfect apartment.
The Young Lions Fiction Award was founded in 2001 by actor Ethan Hawke, author Rick Moody, librarian Hannah McFarland, and literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. Previous winners include Uzodinma Iweala for Beasts of No Nation, Karen Russell for Swamplandia!, and Catherine Lacey for Pew.
The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on June 13.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
