Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize honors the best debut novel published in the United States each year and supports new voices in fiction. The Center for Fiction, a nonprofit literary organization in Brooklyn, New York, first awarded it in 2006, and past winners include Viet Thanh Nguyen, Tommy Orange, Raven Leilani and De'Shawn Charles Winslow.

Hundreds of volunteer readers, among them writers, librarians, booksellers and members of the Center, first narrow the eligible books to a longlist announced in summer. A panel of distinguished American writers then chooses a shortlist in the fall and the winner, who is announced in December at the Center's annual awards benefit after a public reading by the finalists. The winner receives $15,000 and each shortlisted author $1,000.

Full-length first novels written in English and published in the United States between January 1 and December 31 of the prize year.