Today, the Gotham Book Prize, an annual award that began during the first year of the pandemic to honor and support the best writing about New York City, announced its eleven 2023 finalists.

“There’s no other city that has the diversity, vibrancy, and culture of New York, and the Gotham Book Prize is once again going to honor an author who has captured the remarkable character of our city,” said Gotham Book Prize co-founders Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson in a press release. “While the darkest days of the pandemic are behind us, our cultural community is still recovering. By highlighting these eleven outstanding books and awarding one author a $50,000 prize, we hope to support and encourage even more writers to share the unique stories of our city in the years to come.”

Here are this year’s finalists:

Activities of Daily Living, Lisa Hsiao Chen

An Honest Living, Dwyer Murphy

Big Girl, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta, James Hannaham

Olga Dies Dreaming, Xochitl Gonzalez

Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion, Bushra Rehman

The Deceptions, Jill Bialosky

The Sewing Girl’s Tale, John Wood Sweet

Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, Sidik Fofana

Three Muses, Martha Anne Toll

Trust, Hernan Diaz

The winner will be chosen by a jury of “leading New Yorkers and authors” including Stephanie Danler, Tom Healy, Melissa Rivero, and Safiya Sinclair, and will receive $50,000 at an event at P&T Knitwear this spring.

Emily Temple

Emily Temple

Emily Temple is the managing editor at Lit Hub. Her first novel, The Lightness, was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2020. You can buy it here.