Ladies Lead In Prize For Young Writers, Again

Last year, four out of the National Book Foundations prestigious “5 under 35” were women. And this year, ladies lead the field again.

Publishers Weekly reports the winners of the award for young writers. They are:

Shani Boianjiu, author of The People of Forever Are Not Afraid
Danielle Evans, author of Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self
Mary Beth Keane, author of The Walking People
Melinda Moustakis, author of Bear Down, Bear North: Alaska Stories
John Corey Whaley, author of Where Things Come Back

Boianjiu is one of the youngest winners of the award ever, at 24. According to a press release from the National Book Foundation, she was discovered by National Book Award finalist Nicole Krauss after Boianjiu contacted Krauss through their Israeli publisher. The only man on the list, John Corey Whaley, is also the first YA author ever to win the award — his book follows a teenage boy whose brother disappears around the same time as the reappearance of a rare woodpecker. It’s great to see young female writers getting the respect they deserve — and to see books for younger readers getting some respect too.