# Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize is an annual award presented by the Center for Fiction, a non-profit organization in New York City, for the best debut novel. From 2006 to 2011, it was called the John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize in honor of John Turner Sargent, Sr.. From 2011 to 2014, it was known as the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, named for Center for Fiction board member Nancy Dunnan and her journalist father Ray W. Flaherty.
Publishers nominate English-language works by first-time United States novelists. There is a two-tiered selection process for the prize. First, the nominees are read by a network of booklovers (referred to as Common Readers), including librarians, writers, staff, members, and friends of The Center for Fiction, giving rise to a long list of recommended books. Next, the Common Readers' long list is forwarded to a committee of distinguished American writers, who select a short list, typically comprising five to seven titles, which is publicly announced in the late summer. All finalists are invited to read from their works at a First Novel Fête. The winning novel is announced at an awards event—both of these events usually occur in December. The winning novelist receives a cash prize of $10,000; each finalist receives $1,000.

## Recipients

First Novel Prize winners and nominees :
| Year | Author | Title | Result |
| 2006 | Marisha Pessl | Special Topics in Calamity Physics | Winner |
| 2006 | Marie Arana | Cellophane | Shortlist |
| 2006 | Nell Freudenberger | The Dissident | Shortlist |
| 2006 | Peter Orner | The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo | Shortlist |
| 2006 | Patrick Ryan | Send Me | Shortlist |
| 2007 | Junot Díaz | The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao | Winner |
| 2007 | Daniel Alarcón | Lost City Radio | Shortlist |
| 2007 | Mischa Berlinski | Fieldwork | Shortlist |
| 2007 | Jon Clinch | Finn | Shortlist |
| 2007 | Nathan Englander | The Ministry of Special Cases | Shortlist |
| 2007 | Austin Grossman | Soon I Will Be Invincible | Shortlist |
| 2007 | Ehud Havazelet | Bearing the Body | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Hannah Tinti | The Good Thief | Winner |
| 2008 | Stefan Merrill Block | The Story of Forgetting | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Rivka Galchen | Atmospheric Disturbances | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Beth Helms | Dervishes | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Peter Manseau | Songs for the Butcher's Daughter | Shortlist |
| 2008 | Ed Park | Personal Days | Shortlist |
| 2008 | David Wroblewski | The Story of Edgar Sawtelle | Shortlist |
| 2009 | John Pipkin | Woodsburner | Winner |
| 2009 | Paul Harding | Tinkers | Shortlist |
| 2009 | Yiyun Li | The Vagrants | Shortlist |
| 2009 | Philipp Meyer | American Rust | Shortlist |
| 2009 | Patrick Somerville | The Cradle | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Karl Marlantes | Matterhorn | Winner |
| 2010 | Michelle Hoover | The Quickening | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Jessica Francis Kane | The Report | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Maaza Mengiste | Beneath the Lion's Gaze | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Julie Orringer | The Invisible Bridge | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Drew Perry | This Is Just Exactly Like You | Shortlist |
| 2010 | Adam Ross | Mr. Peanut | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Bonnie Nadzam | Lamb | Winner |
| 2011 | Sarah Braunstein | The Sweet Relief of Missing Children | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Carolyn Cooke | Daughters of the Revolution | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Ida Hattemer-Higgins | The History of History | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Ismet Prcic | Shards | Shortlist |
| 2011 | David Vann | Caribou Island | Shortlist |
| 2011 | Alexi Zentner | Touch | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Ben Fountain | Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk | Winner |
| 2012 | Patrick Flanery | Absolution | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Tupelo Hassman | Girlchild | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Peter Heller | The Dog Stars | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Eowyn Ivey | The Snow Child | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Kevin Powers | The Yellow Birds | Shortlist |
| 2012 | Maggie Shipstead | Seating Arrangements | Shortlist |
| 2012 | G. Willow Wilson | Alif the Unseen | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Margaret Wrinkle | Wash | Winner |
| 2013 | Lea Carpenter | Eleven Days | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Marjorie Celona | Y | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Christopher Hacker | The Morels | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Mitchell S. Jackson | The Residue Years | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Anthony Marra | A Constellation of Vital Phenomena | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Kirstin Scott | Motherlunge | Shortlist |
| 2013 | Taiye Selasi | Ghana Must Go | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Tiphanie Yanique | Land of Love and Drowning | Winner |
| 2014 | Rene Denfeld | The Enchanted | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Smith Henderson | Fourth of July Creek | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Vanessa Manko | The Invention of Exile | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Matthew Thomas | We Are Not Ourselves | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Ted Thompson | The Land of Steady Habits | Shortlist |
| 2014 | Josh Weil | The Great Glass Sea | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Viet Thanh Nguyen | The Sympathizer | Winner |
| 2015 | Angela Flournoy | The Turner House | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Tanwi Nandini Islam | Bright Lines | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Sophie McManus | The Unfortunates | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Ben Metcalf | Against the Country | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Chigozie Obioma | The Fishermen | Shortlist |
| 2015 | Lori Ostlund | After the Parade | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Kia Corthron | The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter | Winner |
| 2016 | Emma Cline | The Girls | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Nicole Dennis-Benn | Here Comes the Sun | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Kaitlyn Greenidge | We Love You, Charlie Freeman | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Garth Greenwell | What Belongs to You | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Yaa Gyasi | Homegoing | Shortlist |
| 2016 | Krys Lee | How I Became a North Korean | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Julie Lekstrom Himes | Mikhail and Margarita | Winner |
| 2017 | Bethany Ball | What to Do About the Solomons | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Jaroslav Kalfař | Spaceman of Bohemia | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Annabelle Kim | Tiger Pelt | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Simeon Marsalis | As Lie Is to Grin | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Susan Rivers | The Second Mrs. Hockaday | Shortlist |
| 2017 | Kaitlin Solimine | Empire of Glass | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Tommy Orange | There There | Winner |
| 2018 | Jen Beagin | Pretend I'm Dead | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Akwaeke Emezi | Freshwater | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Lisa Halliday | Asymmetry | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Tadzio Koelb | Trenton Makes | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Jordy Rosenberg | Confessions of the Fox | Shortlist |
| 2018 | Nafkote Tamirat | The Parking Lot Attendant | Shortlist |
| 2019 | De'Shawn Charles Winslow | In West Mills | Winner |
| 2019 | Chia-Chia Lin | The Unpassing | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Julia Phillips | Disappearing Earth | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Pitchaya Sudbanthad | Bangkok Wakes to Rain | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Ocean Vuong | On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Joe Wilkins | Fall Back Down When I Die | Shortlist |
| 2019 | Lauren Wilkinson | American Spy | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Raven Leilani | Luster | Winner |
| 2020 | Amina Cain | Indelicacy | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Maisy Card | These Ghosts Are Family | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Hilary Leichter | Temporary | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Corey Sobel | The Redshirt | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Douglas Stuart | Shuggie Bain | Shortlist |
| 2020 | C Pam Zhang | How Much of These Hills Is Gold | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Kirstin Valdez Quade | The Five Wounds | Winner |
| 2021 | Priyanka Champaneri | The City of Good Death | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Linda Rui Feng | Swimming Back to Trout River | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Honorée Fanonne Jeffers | The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Violet Kupersmith | Build Your House Around My Body | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Patricia Lockwood | No One Is Talking About This | Shortlist |
| 2021 | Jackie Polzin | Brood | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Noor Naga | If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English | Winner |
| 2022 | Daphne Palasi Andreades | Brown Girls | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Jessamine Chan | The School for Good Mothers | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Isabel Kaplan | NSFW | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Alyssa Songsiridej | Little Rabbit | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Mecca Jamilah Sullivan | Big Girl | Shortlist |
| 2022 | Vauhini Vara | The Immortal King Rao | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Tyriek White | We Are a Haunting | Winner |
| 2023 | Elizabeth Acevedo | Family Lore | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Christine Byl | Lookout | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Eskor David Johnson | Pay as You Go | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Jamila Minnicks | Moonrise Over New Jessup | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Tracey Rose Peyton | Night Wherever We Go | Shortlist |
| 2023 | Esther Yi | Y/N | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Joseph Earl Thomas | God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer | Winner |
| 2024 | Rita Bullwinkel | Headshot | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Ruthvika Rao | The Fertile Earth | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Mai Sennaar | They Dream in Gold | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Clare Sestanovich | Ask Me Again | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Morgan Talty | Fire Exit | Shortlist |
| 2024 | Ledia Xhoga | Misinterpretation | Shortlist |