Believer Book Award

Believer Book Award is an American literary award presented yearly by The Believer magazine to novels and story collections the magazine's editors thought were the "strongest and most under-appreciated" of the year.^[1] A shortlist and longlist are announced, along with reader's favorites, then a final winner is selected by the magazine's editors. The inaugural award was in 2005 for books published in 2004.

Winners and shortlist

The year below denotes when the books were published; the award is announced the following year. Thus below, the inaugural 2004 books were announced in early to mid-2005.

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger ()

2004

The shortlist was announced in February 2005.^[2] The winner was announced in March 2005.^[3]

• Sam Lipsyte, Home Land
• Michelle de Kretser, The Hamilton Case
• Lucy Ellmann, Dot in the Universe
• Selah Saterstrom, The Pink Institution
• Francisco Goldman, The Divine Husband

2005

The shortlist was announced in February 2006.^[4] The winner was announced in March 2006.^[5]

• Sesshu Foster, Atomik Aztex
• Trinie Dalton, Wide Eyed
• Aimee Bender, Willful Creatures
• John Wray, Canaan's Tongue
• Tom Bissell, God Lives in St. Petersburg

2006

The winner, and reader survey of best books, was announced in May 2007.^[6]

• Cormac McCarthy, The Road
• Reader and writer survey of best books.

2007

The shortlist was announced in May 2008.^[7] The winner was announced in June 2008.^[8]

• Tom McCarthy, Remainder
• Jesse Ball, Samedi the Deafness
• Gerard Donovan, Sunless
• Steve Erickson, Zeroville
• Elizabeth Hand, Generation Loss
• Alain Mabanckou, African Psycho
• Miranda Mellis, The Revisionist
• Lydie Salvayre, The Power of Flies
• Selah Saterstrom, The Meat and Spirit Plan
• Joe Weisberg, An Ordinary Spy

2008

The shortlist was announced in February 2009.^[9] The winner was announced in March 2009.^[10][11]

• Emily Perkins, Novel About My Wife
• Samantha Hunt, The Invention of Everything Else
• Mary Ruefle, The Most of It
• John Olson, Souls of Wind
• Jim Krusoe, Girl Factory
• Tod Wodicka, All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well
• Toby Olson, Tampico
• Shannon Burke, Black Flies

2009

The shortlist was announced in March 2010.^[12] The winner was announced in May 2010.^[13]

• Percival Everett, I Am Not Sidney Poitier
• Christopher Miller, The Cardboard Universe: A Guide to the World of Phoebus K. Dank
• Mary Robison, One D.O.A., One on the Way
• Blake Butler, Scorch Atlas
• Padgett Powell, The Interrogative Mood

2010

The shortlist was announced in March 2011.^[14] The winner was announced in May 2011.^[15]

• James Hynes, Next
• Danielle Dutton, Sprawl
• Kira Henehan, Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles
• Grace Krilanovich, The Orange Eats Creeps
• Paul Murray, Skippy Dies

2011

The shortlist was announced in March 2012.^[16][17][18] The winner was announced in May 2012.^[19][20]

• Ben Lerner, Leaving the Atocha Station
• Jesse Ball, The Curfew
• Helen DeWitt, Lightning Rods
• Lars Iyer, Spurious
• Michelle Latiolais, Widow

2012

The shortlist was announced in March 2013.^[21] The winner was announced in April 2013.^[22]

• Tamara Faith Berger, Maidenhead
• Barbara Browning, I'm Trying to Reach You
• Karl Ove Knausgaard, My Struggle (Book One)
• Jim Krusoe, Parsifal
• Sergio De La Pava, A Naked Singularity

2013

The shortlist was announced in March 2014.^[23] The winner was announced in April 2014.^[24]

• Rebecca Lee, Bobcat and Other Stories
• Kiese Laymon, Long Division
• Fiona Maazel, Woke Up Lonely
• Keith Ridgway, Hawthorn and Child
• Bennett Sims, A Questionable Shape

2014

The shortlist was announced in March 2015.^[25] The winner was announced in the Fall 2015 issue.^[26]

• Ottessa Moshfegh, McGlue
• Diane Cook, Man V. Nature
• Valeria Luiselli, Faces in the Crowd
• Elizabeth McCracken, Thunderstruck and Other Stories
• Antoine Volodine, Writers

See also

• Believer Poetry Award

References

1. "The Believer Book Award", The Millions, March 3, 2011
2. "The Believer Book Award 2004 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2005. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
3. "The Believer Book Award 2004 winner". The Believer. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
4. "The Believer Book Award 2005 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2006. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
5. "The Believer Book Award 2005 winner". The Believer. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
6. "The Believer Book Award 2006 winner". The Believer. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
7. "The Believer Book Award 2007 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
8. "The Believer Book Award 2007 winner". The Believer. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
9. "The Believer Book Award 2008 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2009. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
10. "The Believer Book Award 2008 winner". The Believer. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
11. "Emily Perkins Wins Fifth Annual Believer Book Award". Poets & Writers. March 23, 2009. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
12. "The Believer Book Award 2009 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2010. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
13. "The Believer Book Award 2009 winner". The Believer. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
14. "The Believer Book Award 2010 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
15. "The Believer Book Award 2010 winner". The Believer. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
16. "The Believer Book Award 2011 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
17. Jaesung Lee (March 1, 2011). "The Believer's book award finalists include Grace Krilanovich". LA Times. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
18. "Small Presses Dominate Believer Book Prize Shortlist". Poets & Writers. March 5, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
19. "The Believer Book Award 2011 winner". The Believer. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
20. "Heather Christle and Ben Lerner Win Believer Awards". Poets & Writers. May 1, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
21. "The Believer Book Award 2013 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
22. Mark Medley (April 29, 2013). "Tamara Faith Berger wins The Believer Book Award". National Post. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
23. "The Believer Book Award 2014 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
24. "Announcing the 2013 Believer Book and Poetry Award Winners". The Believer. May 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
25. "The Believer Book Award 2015 finalists". The Believer. March–April 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
26. "The Believer Book Award". The Believer. November 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2015.

External links

• Believer Book Award at LibraryThing