LA Times Book Prizes

 

Last week, the Los Angeles Times announced the winners of the 44th annual Book Prizes in a ceremony at USC’s Bovard Auditorium. The Times’ Book Prizes recognize outstanding literary achievements and celebrate the highest quality of writing from authors at all stages of their careers.

Winners were announced in 13 categories for works published last year, including the new prize for achievement in audiobook production, presented by Audible. Additionally, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley was honored with the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement and Access Books received the Innovator’s Award for its work renovating school libraries and ensuring that underserved students and communities have access to quality literacy resources. A complete list of this year’s Book Prizes winners follows.

2023 Book Prizes Winners

Achievement in Audiobook Production (presented by Audible): Dion Graham and Elishia Merricks, “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): AMemoir,” Macmillan Audio (UNAVAILABLE IN AUDIO IN THE JEFFERSON COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM)

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction: Shannon Sanders, “Company: Stories,” Graywolf Press

Biography: Gregg Hecimovich, “The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman’s Narrative,” Ecco/HarperCollins

Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose: Claire Dederer, “Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma,” Knopf

Current Interest: Roxanna Asgarian, “We Were Once A Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America,” Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Fiction: Ed Park, “Same Bed Different Dreams: A Novel,” Random House

Graphic Novel/Comics: Emily Carroll, “A Guest in the House,” First Second

History: Joya Chatterji, “Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century,” Yale University Press (UNAVAILABLE IN THE JEFFERSON COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM)

Mystery/Thriller: Ivy Pochoda, “Sing Her Down: A Novel,” MCD

Poetry: Airea D. Matthews, “Bread and Circus: Poems,” Scribner
(UNAVAILABLE IN THE JEFFERSON COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM)

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction: Tananarive Due, “The Reformatory: A Novel,” Saga Press

Science & Technology: Eugenia Cheng, “Is Math Real? How Simple Questions Lead Us to Mathematics’ Deepest Truths,” Basic Books

Young Adult Literature: Amber McBride, “Gone Wolf,” Feiwel & Friends

For more information about the Book Prizes, including the complete list of 2023 finalists and past winners; eligibility and judging information, go to latimes.com/BookPrizes.

The Book Prizes ceremony is a prologue to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the nation’s largest literary festival, which will bring together more than 550 writers, experts and storytellers, hundreds of exhibitors and an estimated 155,000 attendees. The 29th annual Festival of Books is presented in association with USC. Festival news and updates are available on the event website and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles (#bookfest).