# Kirkus Prize

The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine Kirkus Reviews. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows US$150,000 annually. Three authors are awarded US$50,000 each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers' Literature. It has been described as one of the most lucrative prizes in literature.

## Eligibility and selection

Books reviewed by Kirkus Reviews that have received the Kirkus Star are automatically eligible for the Kirkus Prize and are selected for nomination. The eligibility dates of publication for books is typically between November 1 of the previous year and October 31 of the current year, with few exceptions. Self-published books that have earned the Kirkus Star are eligible for the Kirkus Prize. However, self-published books are not eligible based on their date of publication but rather the date of publication of their online review by Kirkus Reviews. All books must first be reviewed by Kirkus Reviews to be considered.
The Prize is divided into three categories: the Kirkus Prize for Fiction, the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature. Each category is judged by a panel of three judges: a writer, a bookseller or librarian, and a Kirkus Reviews critic. The editors and staff of Kirkus Reviews evaluate each of the nominated books, conducting a first round of eliminations. The panels of judges then decide upon six finalists in each of the three categories. In the Young Readers' Literature category, the six finalists include two picture books, two middle-grade books and two teen books. The three winners are announced at a ceremony. The prize money for books with multiple authors and illustrators is divided fairly as decided by the Prize's judges and administrators.

## Winners and finalists
### Fiction

| Year | Winners and finalists | Book |
| 2014 | Lily King | Euphoria |
| 2014 | Siri Hustvedt | The Blazing World |
| 2014 | Dinaw Mengestu | All Our Names |
| 2014 | Brian Morton | Florence Gordon |
| 2014 | Bill Roorbach | The Remedy for Love |
| 2014 | Sarah Waters | The Paying Guests |
| 2015 | Hanya Yanagihara | A Little Life |
| 2015 | Susan Barker | The Incarnations |
| 2015 | Lucia Berlin Stephen Emerson (ed.) | A Manual for Cleaning Women |
| 2015 | Lauren Groff | Fates and Furies |
| 2015 | Valeria Luiselli Christina MacSweeney (tr.) | The Story of My Teeth |
| 2015 | Jim Shepard | The Book of Aron |
| 2016 | C. E. Morgan | The Sport of Kings |
| 2016 | Adam Haslett | Imagine Me Gone |
| 2016 | Joe McGinniss Jr. | Carousel Court |
| 2016 | Annie Proulx | Barkskins |
| 2016 | Amor Towles | A Gentleman in Moscow |
| 2016 | Colson Whitehead | The Underground Railroad |
| 2017 | Lesley Nneka Arimah | What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky |
| 2017 | Mohsin Hamid | Exit West |
| 2017 | Hari Kunzru | White Tears |
| 2017 | Carmen Maria Machado | Her Body and Other Parties |
| 2017 | Alice McDermott | The Ninth Hour |
| 2017 | Jesmyn Ward | Sing, Unburied, Sing |
| 2018 | Ling Ma | Severance |
| 2018 | Naima Coster | Halsey Street |
| 2018 | Lauren Groff | Florida |
| 2018 | Eduardo Halfon Lisa Dillman (tr.) Daniel Hahn (tr.) | Mourning |
| 2018 | Nafissa Thompson-Spires | Heads of the Colored People |
| 2018 | Katie Williams | Tell the Machine Goodnight |
| 2019 | Colson Whitehead | The Nickel Boys |
| 2019 | Carolina De Robertis | Cantoras |
| 2019 | Laila Lalami | The Other Americans |
| 2019 | Valeria Luiselli | Lost Children Archive |
| 2019 | Yūko Tsushima Geraldine Harcourt (tr.) | Territory of Light |
| 2019 | Ocean Vuong | On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous |
| 2020 | Raven Leilani | Luster |
| 2020 | Tola Rotimi Abraham | Black Sunday |
| 2020 | Juliana Delgado Lopera | Fiebre Tropical |
| 2020 | Elena Ferrante Ann Goldstein (tr.) | The Lying Life of Adults |
| 2020 | James McBride | Deacon King Kong |
| 2020 | Douglas Stuart | Shuggie Bain |
| 2021 | Joy Williams | Harrow |
| 2021 | Mariana Enríquez Megan McDowell (tr.) | The Dangers of Smoking in Bed |
| 2021 | Honorée Fanonne Jeffers | The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois |
| 2021 | Jocelyn Nicole Johnson | My Monticello |
| 2021 | Pajtim Statovci David Hackston (tr.) | Bolla |
| 2021 | Colson Whitehead | Harlem Shuffle |
| 2022 | Hernan Diaz | Trust |
| 2022 | Michelle de Kretser | Scary Monsters |
| 2022 | Arinze Ifeakandu | God's Children Are Little Broken Things |
| 2022 | Susan Straight | Mecca |
| 2022 | Yoko Tawada Margaret Mitsutani (tr.) | Scattered All Over the Earth |
| 2022 | Olga Tokarczuk Jennifer Croft (tr.) | The Books of Jacob |
| 2023 | James McBride | The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store |
| 2023 | Jamel Brinkley | Witness |
| 2023 | Eleanor Catton | Birnam Wood |
| 2023 | Kelly Link | White Cat, Black Dog |
| 2023 | Paul Murray | The Bee Sting |
| 2023 | Jesmyn Ward | Let Us Descend |
| 2024 | Percival Everett | James |
| 2024 | Jennine Capó Crucet | Say Hello to My Little Friend |
| 2024 | Louise Erdrich | The Mighty Red |
| 2024 | Paul Lynch | Prophet Song |
| 2024 | Richard Powers | Playground |
| 2024 | Rufi Thorpe | Margo's Got Money Troubles |

### Nonfiction

| Year | Winners and finalists | Book |
| 2014 | Roz Chast | Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? |
| 2014 | Leo Damrosch | Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World |
| 2014 | Elizabeth Kolbert | The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History |
| 2014 | Armand Marie Leroi | The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science |
| 2014 | Thomas Piketty Arthur Goldhammer (tr.) | Capital in the Twenty-First Century |
| 2014 | Bryan Stevenson | Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption |
| 2015 | Ta-Nehisi Coates | Between the World and Me |
| 2015 | John Ferling | Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It |
| 2015 | Helen Macdonald | H is for Hawk |
| 2015 | Adam Tooze | The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916–1931 |
| 2015 | Simon Winchester | Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers |
| 2015 | Andrea Wulf | The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World |
| 2016 | Susan Faludi | In the Darkroom |
| 2016 | Sarah Bakewell | At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails |
| 2016 | Matthew Desmond | Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City |
| 2016 | Michael Eric Dyson | The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America |
| 2016 | Beth Macy | Truevine: Two Brothers, a Kidnapping, and a Mother's Quest: A True Story of the Jim Crow South |
| 2016 | J. D. Vance | Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis |
| 2017 | Jack E. Davis | The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea |
| 2017 | Edward Dolnick | The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Sharks' Teeth to Frogs' Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come |
| 2017 | Patricia Lockwood | Priestdaddy: A Memoir |
| 2017 | Valeria Luiselli Lizzie Davis (tr.) | Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions |
| 2017 | Michael W. Twitty | The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South |
| 2017 | Laura Walls | Henry David Thoreau: A Life |
| 2018 | Rebecca Solnit | Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays) |
| 2018 | Shane Bauer | American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment |
| 2018 | Kiese Laymon | Heavy: An American Memoir |
| 2018 | Beth Macy | Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America |
| 2018 | Sarah Smarsh | Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth |
| 2018 | Timothy Snyder | The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America |
| 2019 | Saeed Jones | How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir |
| 2019 | Hanif Abdurraqib | Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest |
| 2019 | Naja Marie Aidt Denise Newman (tr.) | When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back: Carl's Book |
| 2019 | Patrick Radden Keefe | Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland |
| 2019 | Dina Nayeri | The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You |
| 2019 | Rachel Louise Snyder | No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us |
| 2020 | Mychal Denzel Smith | Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream |
| 2020 | Eric Jay Dolin | A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes |
| 2020 | Rebecca Giggs | Fathoms: The World in the Whale |
| 2020 | Deirdre Mask | The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power |
| 2020 | Aimee Nezhukumatathil Fumi Nakamura (ill.) | World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments |
| 2020 | Isabel Wilkerson | Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents |
| 2021 | Brian Broome | Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir |
| 2021 | Dara Horn | People Love Dead Jews: Reports From a Haunted Present |
| 2021 | Tiya Miles | All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake |
| 2021 | Kristen Radtke | Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness |
| 2021 | Katherine E. Standefer | Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life |
| 2021 | Juan Villoro Alfred MacAdam (tr.) | Horizontal Vertigo: A City Called Mexico |
| 2022 | Tanaïs | In Sensorium |
| 2022 | Margaret A. Burnham | By Hands Now Known |
| 2022 | Lindsey Fitzharris | The Facemaker |
| 2022 | Nikole Hannah-Jones Caitlin Roper (ed.) Ilena Silverman (ed.) Jake Silverstein (ed.) | The 1619 Project |
| 2022 | Ann Patchett | These Precious Days |
| 2022 | Ed Yong | An Immense World |
| 2023 | Héctor Tobar | Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on the Meanings and Myths of "Latino" |
| 2023 | Tania Branigan | Red Memory: The Afterlives of China's Cultural Revolution |
| 2023 | Jennifer Homans | Mr. B: George Balanchine's 20th Century |
| 2023 | Clancy Martin | How Not to Kill Yourself: A Portrait of the Suicidal Mind |
| 2023 | Safiya Sinclair | How to Say Babylon: A Memoir |
| 2023 | Ilyon Woo | Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom |
| 2024 | Adam Higginbotham | Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space |
| 2024 | Steve Coll | The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq |
| 2024 | Tessa Hulls | Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir |
| 2024 | Olivia Laing | The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise |
| 2024 | Shefali Luthra | Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America |
| 2024 | Carvell Wallace | Another Word for Love: A Memoir |

### Young Readers' Literature

| Year | Winners and finalists | Book |
| 2014 | Kate Samworth | Aviary Wonders Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual |
| 2014 | Cece Bell | El Deafo |
| 2014 | Jen Bryant Melissa Sweet (ill.) | The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus |
| 2014 | Jack Gantos | The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza |
| 2014 | E. K. Johnston | The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim |
| 2014 | Don Mitchell | The Freedom Summer Murders |
| 2015 | Pam Muñoz Ryan Dinara Mirtalipova (ill.) | Echo |
| 2015 | Martha Brockenbrough | The Game of Love and Death |
| 2015 | Lauren Child | The New Small Person |
| 2015 | Daniel José Older | Shadowshaper |
| 2015 | Duncan Tonatiuh | Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras |
| 2015 | Jonah Winter Shane W. Evans (ill.) | Lillian's Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 |
| 2016 | Jason Reynolds | As Brave as You |
| 2016 | Sherman Alexie Yuyi Morales (ill.) | Thunder Boy Jr. |
| 2016 | Ashley Bryan | Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan |
| 2016 | Traci Chee | The Reader |
| 2016 | Russell Freedman | We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler |
| 2016 | Meg Medina | Burn Baby Burn |
| 2017 | Cherie Dimaline | The Marrow Thieves |
| 2017 | Jairo Buitrago Rafael Yockteng (ill.) Elisa Amado (tr.) | Walk with Me |
| 2017 | Cao Wenxuan Helen Wang (tr.) Meilo So (ill.) | Bronze and Sunflower |
| 2017 | Karen English | It All Comes Down to This |
| 2017 | Lilli L'Arronge Madeleine Stratford (tr.) | Me Tall, You Small |
| 2017 | Angie Thomas | The Hate U Give |
| 2018 | Derrick Barnes Gordon C. James (ill.) | Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut |
| 2018 | Elizabeth Acevedo | The Poet X |
| 2018 | Tomi Adeyemi | Children of Blood and Bone |
| 2018 | Meg Medina | Merci Suárez Changes Gears |
| 2018 | Yuyi Morales | Dreamers |
| 2018 | Jacqueline Woodson | Harbor Me |
| 2019 | Jerry Craft Jim Callahan (color.) | New Kid |
| 2019 | Kwame Alexander Kadir Nelson (ill.) | The Undefeated |
| 2019 | Juan Felipe Herrera Lauren Castillo (ill.) | Imagine |
| 2019 | Angie Thomas | On the Come Up |
| 2019 | Juan Pablo Villalobos Rosalind Harvey (tr.) | The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border |
| 2019 | Alicia D. Williams | Genesis Begins Again |
| 2020 | Derrick Barnes Gordon C. James (ill.) | I Am Every Good Thing |
| 2020 | Elizabeth Acevedo | Clap When You Land |
| 2020 | Hanna Alkaf | The Girl and the Ghost |
| 2020 | Kimberly Brubaker Bradley | Fighting Words |
| 2020 | Carole Lindstrom Michaela Goade (ill.) | We Are Water Protectors |
| 2020 | Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds | Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You |
| 2021 | Christina Soontornvat | All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team |
| 2021 | Sharon G. Flake | The Life I'm In |
| 2021 | Nikki Grimes | Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance |
| 2021 | NoNieqa Ramos Jacqueline Alcántara (ill.) | Your Mama |
| 2021 | Wai Chim | The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling |
| 2021 | Carole Boston Weatherford Floyd Cooper (ill.) | Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre |
| 2022 | Harmony Becker | Himawari House |
| 2022 | Betina Birkjær Anna Margrethe Kjærgaard (ill.) Sinéad Quirke Køngerskov (trans.) | Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost |
| 2022 | Rimma Onoseta | How You Grow Wings |
| 2022 | Niki Smith | The Golden Hour |
| 2022 | Anne Ursu | The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy |
| 2022 | Jacqueline Woodson Rafael López (ill.) | The Year We Learned to Fly |
| 2023 | Ariel Aberg-Riger | America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History |
| 2023 | Valerie Bolling Kaylani Juanita (ill.) | Together We Swim |
| 2023 | Louise Finch | The Eternal Return of Clara Hart |
| 2023 | Kiran Millwood Hargrave Tom de Freston (ill.) | Julia and the Shark |
| 2023 | Jon Klassen | The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale |
| 2023 | Roger Mello Daniel Hahn (trans.) | João by a Thread |
| 2024 | Kenneth M. Cadow | Gather |
| 2024 | Safia Elhillo | Bright Red Fruit |
| 2024 | Joanna Ho Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (ill.) | We Who Produce Pearls |
| 2024 | Hiba Noor Khan | Safiyyah's War |
| 2024 | Jason Reynolds Jerome Pumphrey (ill.) Jarrett Pumphrey (ill.) | There Was a Party for Langston |
| 2024 | Sherri Winston | Shark Teeth |