good evening.

i ask you to just please take your places. we're going to start the awards ceremony now now. please turn out i'm tom beer. i'm the in chief of kirkus reviews. thank you so much for being with us here tonight tonight. just a reminder, please silence cell phones and sort settle in for the ceremony part will be about an hour and then we can eat and drink some more. thank you so if. so, tonight is a very special night. this is the occasion that we've gathered to present these unique literary awards, and we're thrilled.

yeah, ten. and we're thrilled to be hosting them here in new york for the first time at. this beautiful venue with this merry group of people, friends and in the publishing world and those of you watching on live's on youtube, the live stream at home. thank you for joining us this evening evening. it seems fitting to celebrate a decade of the kirkus prize here in the city where in 1933 a woman named virginia kirkus first launched the virginia kirkus bookshops service. yes, this year also marks the 90th birthday of the publication known to you as kirkus reviews. this year was significant for yet another reason. we initiated a complete redesign of the magazine and after some you have seen it after months of

hard work by our dedicated staff bursting with pride at this gorgeous is full color magazine that we've been putting out into the world twice a month since september 1st. there's scattered around the room. there's some copies. the october 1st issue with absolutely stunning illustration of author jacqueline woodson on the cover. yeah, it was done by illustrator justin hine and it's a really fitting tribute to jackie and her and her work. please feel free to pick up an issue. if you see one around, take it home with you. leaf through it as said, we're very proud of it. i'd say we're actually looking good for a 90 year old right. now. i'd like to introduce the publisher and ceo of kirkus meg laborde kuehn. meg's belief in the import of kirkus reviews to the literary community and her unwavering leadership. the company were vital to the

development of the kirkus prize and safe to say that none of us would be here tonight without her. thank you, meg meg. okay. thank you, tom the hardest working man in publishing, everybody, tom via. a decade ago we had the rare, spectacular privilege of dreaming up a new literary award. one of our owners, mark winkelman, came up with an idea for a kirkus and our other owner, herb simon, agreed to fund it this year will mark $1.5 million awarded to authors and illustrators through the kirkus prize. but i have to tell you when we first announced that the owner of kirkus was going to give away $150,000 a year to recognize achievement in literature,

people were pretty surprised the news had all the big papers. the new york times, the washinon post, los angeles times. but my favorite headline was from a.v. club. they wrote new literary awards kirkus to pay actual money. ten years later, the kirkus prize is still one of the richest literary awards in the world. that's when we set out to establish what our award would be, what could be the staff editors at kirkus defined our top three priorities. first, we said if we're going do this, let's go big. let's give away enough that it'll make a real product equal difference in the life of a writer. the very first kirkus prize was awarded to a painter, kate samarth, who studied art in new orleans and had a passion for painting birds, was devastated

when she learned hurricane katrina had affected city's avian population. audubon park, so full of life and movement it was now eerily still in silent in her grief. kate. a future where she could just order birds. she envisioned something like a sears roebuck catalog that offered all kinds of bird parts. you could order long legs and pair with a short beak, extravagant feathers. you could build all of new birds as peculiar or as elegant as you can imagine. this wildly creative vision came to life in. a picture book titled aviary inc, which won the 2014 kirkus prize, is for young readers literature and. i don't think anyone who was present in that room in 2014 will ever forget the moment when

sam wirth won the kirkus prize. i'll never forget that moment, because when we saw the real impact that this award have on the career of an artist, we knew that this was going to be very, very special. and you could actually see the impact. you could feel from her, the shock and the excitement. but also relief. i'm you about kate. sam worth an aviary wonders because when that title won the first kirkus prize we got a glimpse into the future. a future where singular works of literary and artistic are celebrated and artists are given the means to create more art. harmony becker, who won for himawari house last year, said winning the kirkus prize meant so much to me. both the public recognition and for the financial support that allowed the space and freedom to imagine news stories.

raven leilani, who won last year in 2020, said it made a real material in my life, allowing to dedicate more of my time to my in. derek barnes yes. and derek barnes, who won in 2018 and again in 2020, said, i'll always be indebted to kirkus for shining a light on a once struggled in career. it gave me new. the kirkus prize has played vital role in boosting emerging and established literary careers. because almost ten years ago, when we defined those top three priorities and we said let's big we also said let's go first. one of the trademark characteristics, kirkus reviews, is that ours is the first review published of a book, and the outcome of that a particularly pure assessment of the work.

one that is untainted by the opinions of others. this has been a core editorial standard of kirkus reviews for almost a century, since the very beginning. and we knew the kirkus prize to meet the same standard. as a result, this prize has become one of the most influential of a book's potential make a lasting impact on america's literary legacy. new kid by jeffrey craft became the first graphic novel to ever win the newbery medal, but it won the kirkus prize first just last year. trust by hernandez and in 2018. the gulf by jack davis won pulitzer prizes, but they won kirkus prize his first. jack said a prize from kirkus reviews says you've arrived. the press starts, your colleagues email and texting. your 90 year old mother beams.

my gosh, you think? i guess i am a writer by being the first major literary award america. each year we, protect the sovereignty of our that the book selected as finalist and winners of the kirkus prize ties are worthy of attention and acclaim that these books and these voices matter. and that brings me to the third and most important we establish when defining the kirkus prize we it to go big. we knew had to go first but our absolute top priority was to go deep because the coverage kirkus reviews is so. we had an opportunity to consider more books than any awards jury in world. the first selection criterion for kirkus prize is a star review from our critic. that means every book we review is ultimately eligible for the

prize. over the past decade, our critics read and considered more. 100,000 books for only 30 awards. we've had from far flung corners, the globe and every region in the states. our prizes had been awarded to small presses and major houses. marginalized voices and authors of great influence. because we read so broadly the kirkus prize is the most thorough and inclusive award in the world. sherry dim aline won for the metro thieves in 2017, said winning the prize lifts books to a new level and ensures that they have the best to succeed in both writer's work. in changing the stories, we think of as classics and now the part you've all been waiting for. math for the 2023 prize.

our critics read 3000 and 550 works of adult fiction. they. read 2428 nonfiction books and to come up with only six finalist. they read 4851 books for young readers. then yes, that's a total. 10,794 books. which means less than point 2% of the books we reviewed. named to our list of finalist for the kirkus prize. you were more likely to be born with 11 fingers or toes than a writer was to be named a finalist for. this year's kirkus prize. so to all of the finalist,

congratulations. you've already beaten the odds. you might have even done it without any extra digits. but don't let this moment slip you. when jason reynolds talks about the night he won the kirkus prize. he doesn't say anything about what it. felt like to win. he just remembers. it was like to be in a room with a literary giant like his hero, bryan. so look around this room. take it all in. allow the pleasure of being surround by talent of magnificent proportions and. allow yourself to receive this. to herb mark, tom, sarah, colleen and all the staff and editors of kirkus who worked tirelessly to make the kirkus prize meaningful. i'll leave you with the statement from colson whitehead. our 19 fiction winner, happy

birthday kirkus prize. long you reign, allowing a little in to writers sad and desperate. on that brilliant note. i invite all of you here in new york and everybody joining us from home. sit back and enjoy even. revel in the uncommon spectacle of celebrating the power and impact of truly literature. thank you, meg. tonight, we gather to recognize 18 outstanding works of fiction nonfiction, young readers, literature that were published in the past year. we'd you all to get to know the fascinating and wildly talented creators of books a little bit better. so we editor at large megan

labrise, the genial host of our fully booked to meet with all of them on zoom for a series of we call cocktail conversations a prelude to the sorts of impromptu people are having here. and here's meghan meghan. so we're working to been together today. so just by means of introduction, a little icebreaker. how did you celebrate publication of your kirkus prize book? this could include food but need not be limited to when did it come out. where were you? was there cake involved? if so, what flavor and the quote. kieran loves a celebration. i do. so i think you probably multiple times. yeah. he said it every week. basically. so there's tons of bookstores. buffalo, actually. and one of my favorites is called fitz books and waffles and they serve hot, delicious waffles there. so i was like, yeah, bring your kids.

it'll be great. and it was chaos. like, there was like balloons popping. we had like a musician. it was just like this wild waffle party. so that's how we celebrated. i had a mike at a local library. i ate cake, but also eat cake multiple times a so i told myself this one was celebratory. i feel like i've missed lots of opportunities here having having not done enough clearly to celebrate publication of this book and particularly not having had a waffle party which sounds amazing. i actually went for a nice with my agent and it was the best i actually met her in person. so that was really, really lovely. we have two kids who are 64 and we were very, very tired. we take them through a drive through to get hamburgers, fries from a place called rick's around the corner. very, very, very special occasions. we parked the car and go inside rick's and it was an inside rick stay inside routes. roger what's your greatest pleasure? of your process. but might say colors because

sometimes when we create stories when we we we stay focused sometimes in best with the memories. and sometimes we try to dream with future. but the color is now. and i think children's books are also because of that. because they allow adults and children to share this presence. so my favorite part of the process is probably exactly that point at which not the self-doubt recedes. it starts to feel like it is going to come together like in coherent shape. writing for me is usually with an illustrator. and so when i started writing it was very mysterious and it's still very mysterious. but i usually have to i liken it sometimes to like a tightrope where i'd be very scared to do that. and so i have to sort of just pace for before i actually do

the run, screaming across the tightrope to the next spot. the same answer for me is both that that julia walked into my head and just saying there are more secrets in the ocean than in sky. and i just had to follow her. and it was just like flying. it was amazing. i love writing. i love a new idea for a story and getting that. but there is nothing that brings me greater pleasure than revising. so whenever i draw characters, i feel like it's like writing a love letter to myself and other people where i'm taking like a lot of joy and pleasure and time and a lot of little details that makes me feel super. just and happy, especially seeing in print. then i'm like, oh, it's real. it's like a wish come true. but like once the book is out and, seeing people interact with it and even creators. what a weird process that because it's not like we're sitting, you know, in someone's bedroom watching them read a

book like you hear it kind of back to you but but that engaging in those conversations with readers and with makers back and forth is like always so wonderful. and being with you and hearing all of you makers talk about it is like really, really cool. your books were. from 435 works of nonfiction that were eligible for this year's kirkus prize for nonfiction. how did you find out you were a kirkus prize finalist and? what does this recognition of work mean to you? i think publicists wrote me and told me, i like, oh my gosh, this is so exciting. and, you know, i'm 3 hours behind. so it was also very early mornings, i was like instant like, wait. oh, okay. well, now i'm awake. this is good news to start the day. my first reaction was, this must be some kind of mistake.

no, i think especially when i looked at all these amazing books, amazing books, and i'm i'm still trying to process it. and i got a text from a friend of mine who is like, hey, congratulations on being a curtis finalist. and i was like, wait, what is that? person is confused. and i started getting all these other emails because somebody had posted about it on one some website about this being. the first book ever written by a philosopher, a philosophy professor to be a finalist for this particular. so i was for philosophers. we're not very well trained in the writing department as you may know, if you've read this book every philosophy, it's like any time kirkus says anything nice about one of your books. it's always a validation because you know, kirkus is is the author of, the trade publications that you know,

review books. it's the one that's most likely to give you a harsh review. as those of us who've written several books know, they're the most they're famous for digging. and so i've been dinged in a couple of kirkus reviews. and so to get that star, initially i thought, oh, my god, that good star i got through that, you know, because it's such an honor to be reviewed at a place that values books so much but also like jennifer, she will empathize. spent about ten years working on this and the first couple of agents i approached were very, very unimpressed with the idea to put it mildly. so i actually ended writing the whole book without having sold an initial proposal, just because in the end i felt i knew what i wanted to say and whether it sold or not, i wanted to answer the questions my own sake. so then to see it in print is one thing. and to have it shortlisted for the kirkus prize has just been

amazing. the feeling that in fact this person that i had spent this all these years living with is is somehow seen again in a way that that isn't possible just by the of a book. so or maybe it is possible in each little living room that it's read in. but, but for me it was it was a moment of real sort of just the light. the recognition was very powerful. so i'm grateful for that. what do you consider to be the essential you're considering in your book or the essential questions you're writing towards in your work? i guess the question that i started with which i still think about all the time, is how did they do it? why did they do it? you most people don't know that rastafari is kind of a very

patriarchal culture to grow up in. and so a of the book is asking the question of how do i thread this tension between belonging and becoming mine. my question was quite really i you know how can we help people who are feeling suicidal and and their loved ones or people who have lost people to suicide and the terrible processes of self they go through the more important questions to me are really how people live when the worst has happened, what they do and people live with what has been done to them, what they've done to others. my book aims to address the question of what latino means in the race scheme of the united states. what's the what's meaning of our

place in this country? what are our foibles? what is our relation ship to whiteness? what is our relationship to that incredible shining example of african-american history? and so it's an attempt to understand us citizens as players in this country and its history and also to speak to entire generation of young people who have seen themselves portrayed as as a threat to america or as as unintelligent. and to tell them that we matter in american history and that we, as much as anyone, the essence of what the united states is about. so speaking celebration, as mentioned, we celebrate the kirkus prize in person on october 11th. please fantasize that we are all there together at the location 12th floor or d'oeuvres,

cocktails, mocktails champagne, having a good time together. but people in fancy clothing, which is one of my personal favorite things where we find you in the context of this party. another probably hiding under a table somewhere. so are like, maybe like a lampshade. i could describe myself. probably standing near the edge of the roof. just looking out. because that sounds really nice. i am bad at making small talk, so i'll probably be sort of standing with my friends. but i will enjoy myself. i'm just not good at making small talk. let's see if not hiding under the table with paul, i'll probably be in a corner somewhere nervously, trying to figure out how to talk to fellow fellow followers. at my age, i don't care, you know, i said i'm coming, so i'll be there. the real truth of it is we we're

writing. we do this. we want the world to get better. if we have to stand on a rooftop in tribeca to make the world a little bit better, it's not the worst thing in the world. the fear of my once told me that if you suffer social anxiety. well, the thing do at a party is to when you walk in, walk with great confidence, the farthest extremity of the room and then turn around with great confidence and walk the way back. so then by that, you kind of have a measure of, of the room and he's there. so i'll probably be on the move to be named kirkus prize for fiction finalist in year. what does that recognition of your work mean to you? you know, any way that your book can find readers and to be associated with, you know, these great fellow writers is also very meaningful. me, too. when you have a book that is coming out into the world that, one of the early things that you hope for is a good review or a

start review from from kirkus that it's it's it's an honor, but it's also shock. one or not all. but one of the things that we work when we work is that we, we want readers, we want to bring our work to an audience. we want people sort of get the opportunity to sink into the worlds we've created and really feel with and feel for the people that we're writing. and so my book is set in the midlands, so it's a small part what's like a very, very tiny country and. it's just it's always amazing, just the power of fiction, just that that's from i was sort of miles away can make a connection you know i'd like to remind everyone my fellow writers that you know this is not a foot race. we you know, we are we're like finalists in a, you know in the olympics. i mean you know even the person comes in last is splendidly gifted and. these are splendidly gifted

people that we're about here. so. so it's it's you know, it's an honor to be be part of it.

as you saw in the video. christina vizzini and stan painstakingly craft individual gold luster tipped porcelain pages of a miniature enclosed within a hand-blown glass dome and on a lacquered base. it's a tribute to the power of literary fashioned by a consummate pair of artists in their own right. this year's stellar group of finalists was selected by an esteemed panel of two jurors in each category. all of them booksellers library

critics. journalists or authors working in collaboration with the editors of kirkus together. we read widely and deeply to produce the shortlist of books that we strongly believe represent the best works of literature created in the past year. each of them is a book you could share widely with all kinds of readers and we know that they will stand the test time. we'll begin the awards presentation this evening with the prize young readers literature. the jurors in this category are andreas frazee, a school librarian in portland, president of the oregon association of school libraries and a kirkus critic, and kimberly brubaker, bradley, author of fighting words and other titles. who has received two newbery honors and been a finalist for the kirkus prize herself and here to introduce finalists is young readers editor mahnaz dar.

the finalists for the 2023 kirkus prize for young readers literature are together with swim by valerie bolling illustrated by kaylani juanita. published by chronicle books this big hearted picture book a black family helping. his youngest member learn to swim an ordinary activity that is also with deep meaning. the simple rhyming text is an absolute delight to read aloud. enhanced warm, retro style artwork that suggests the work of classic illustrators. in its broadly inclusive depiction of swimming all too rare and picture books and its portrayal a loving family that supports a child every step of the way together we swim is an important portrait of unadulterated black joy.

jill biden read, written and illustrated by roger mello translated by. daniel hahn published by elsewhere editions. in strikingly original picture book translated from portuguese and first published in brazil, a child preparing to fall asleep finds himself carried away by his imagination. mello and hahn displayed incredibly keen, intuitive understanding of how children perceive the world. bold, mesmerizing, abstract artwork brings to life the young boy's thoughts, fears and hopes. words and images work seamlessly in tandem, enhancing and building upon one another. this is picture book making at its finest finest. julie and the shock factor. millwood harper's illustrated by tom de freston published by union square kids. ten year old julia is spending the summer the shetland islands lighthouse for father's on while

her scientist mother is consumed with her quest for the elusive greenland shark. this tale offers a sensitive, tender and forthright child's idea a parent coping with mental illness, a feat few middle grade novels have pulled off so deftly. luminous illustrations is infused with a sense of magic convey, awe and wonder. the natural world with its authentic resonant voice and exploration of profoundly complex themes. this is a novel that pushes the boundaries of what middle grade can do and be the the skull. i truly in a folk tale. written and illustrated by jon klassen. published by candlewick. in this retold folktale aimed at middle grade readers, a young runaway makes her way. a mysterious house strikes up a friendship with a skull and faces off against a bizarre enemy. clausen's text is concise, well-chosen.

every word with emotion and working superbly with this moody, haunting, grappling them of trauma found family and courage in an honest age appropriate way. this is a beautifully layered, deceptively simple tale that will stay in readers hearts for years. come america redux. visual stories from our dynamic by ariel riga, published by and bray harpercollins, this rousing work of young adult nonfiction demonstrates that history. far from being dusty and irrelevant is a subject teens will eagerly engage with. if we them what they deserve provoca courageous and inclusive books respect their passion and intellect, balancing a vibrant art of captivating text, abridged rigor pushes readers to think critically and ask probing questions. at a time when books that

challenge whitewash history are coming under fire from censors, this is a vitally important work that dares to tell the truth. the eternal of claire harvey by louise finch published by little island and this young adult novel, a wildly original, gripping time love story, unspools as a teenage is forced to relive the same day over and over the fraught subject matter is leavened with a sharply honed sense of dark humor and a pitch perfect voice. this, a potent, exceptionally well realized that will grip readers by the throat as it illuminates the countless ways that every one of us is damaged. toxic masculinity. and the winner of the 2023

kirkus prize for young readers is. america redux by ariel berg. rega published by store in bray, harpercollins. i understand i understand how this. this is amazing. i can't believe that this is something that people do that they come a rooftop when $50,000 and hold a very heavy hand bound glass book. thank you so much.

i feel so honored to be here. this is my first book. kirkus was the first review. i ever got in my life and i remember opening the review and i was sitting in waiting room with my son when he was in the doctor's office and i just burst tears because the review was so beautiful and so and so thoughtful and so clearly engaged. saw the book and i felt like that. that was it. like i was like i, did it like, this is it, it's over. but but being here tonight has been such a joy to. meet everyone else in my category and i think that young readers literature is so important and i love that we fly under the radar like i think that even with the announcements for tonight like a lot of publications didn't mention that we were a category. i like we're like the like the gaffers that like prerecorded at

the oscars but i'm here for because i also think that we are the books that are being the most challenged now and the books that are being the most banned. and i think that. we are such an expansive category of making and think even the books and my fellow are we have everything like we have words and we have pictures and we have fiction and we have nonfiction and we are exploring new ways, tell stories and i think that books create space for people. i think books create space of people. and i think that the world is a especially right now and we create visions of the world that i think we really, really need right now. and i'm so proud of all of you. i would also to share the award. i think it feels weird for one

person to get 50 k. i don't know if it's like doled out in tens and twenties, but i would like to give some of it away my other nominees. so i don't know who to talk to that, but i would like to do that. i and the thank you thank you to my agent who was my date tonight, jenny stevens. for finding me. thank you to my editor, donna bray and everyone at harpercollins for letting me do whatever i wanted. thank you. my wife involved and my two kids, daniel rowan, who are watching this on livestream right now. i wrote this book quite literally with them on top of me during covid. so they're very intimately involved in the process. thank you so much. you.

the next award evening is the prize for nonfiction. the jurors in category are mark at ithaca a journalist critic and author of the new midwest and andrew lee and j.d., an organizer journalist and author of two books, the parted earth and southbound and to introduce the finalists is nonfiction editor eric lieberthal. the finalist, the 2023 kirkus prize for nonfiction are read memory. the afterlives of china's cultural revolution by tania

branigan published by norton. is incisive and sensitive reflection on the chinese cultural revolution and is an astonishing work of reporting historical analysis. the author, who served for many years, china correspondent for the guardian, delivers unforgettable portraits of chinese citizens still reckoning decades later with the legacy one of the nation's darkest periods. read memory is not just an illuminating work about modern china. it is a revelatory account of how a nation grapples with rewrites its own history. mr. b george balanchine's 20th century by jennifer homans published by random house. mr. b is a matchless example of the biographer's art. not only does homans panama realist portrait of the legendary choreographer and co-founder of the new york city ballet, her gorgeous prose captures the mystique and majesty of balanchine on his

eventful journey from czarist russia to mid-century new york. especially impressive given his penchant for autobiographical and exaggeration. the jurors know that even readers with the most incidental interest in ballet will be entranced by this definitive account of a cultural icon. how not to kill yourself. a portrait of the suicidal mind by clancy martin published by pantheon. this astonishing work of psychology and cultural analysis is unlike any book the jurors have ever encountered. martin, an acclaimed and philosopher who has survived than ten suicide attempts, brings shattering honesty, deep compassion and won perspective to this exemplary of a difficult topic a book that deepens our understanding of the human condition. it's no exaggeration to say that it has the potential to save lives lives.

how to say babylon a memoir by safiya sinclair published by simon and schuster. his debut memoirs, one of the most beautifully written books of 2023, a highly lyrical, absolutely clear examination of sinclair's fraught relationship. her strict rastafarian father and nurturing mother while growing up jamaica. as the author finds her own voice through the practice of poetry. how to say babylon. an invigorating journey of self-doubt. recovery that glitters with insight, lush, physical description. palpable emotion. the jurors rated the best memoir the year are migrants souls, a meditation on race and the meanings and myths of latino by hector tobar published mcd, farrar, straus and, giroux. this work of autobiography and cultural, which also serves as a and manifesto, is an essential book by a veteran journalist and

author at the height of his powers, tobar goes beyond reductive newspaper headlines, inflammatory political discourse to portray the complexities and, contradictions, the latin x experience in the u.s. featuring eye opening interviews with people from across the country this elegantly written, refreshingly forthright book, brings into sharp focus a massive yet marginalized community master's husband. wife. an epic journey. slavery to freedom. by eliane rule published by simon and schuster. this extraordinary book is a prodigiously researched historical narrative that reads like a page turning thriller. woo follows an enslaved journey from bondage in antebellum georgia to freedom in the north and abroad. readers be captivated by the bravery and of william and ellen craft, who donned elaborate disguises to escape and then

evaded threats posed by the fugitive slave. emerging as important voices in the abolitionist movement and the authors of an autobiography, rarely is a work of so scrupulously sourced, so engagingly, readable. and the winner of the 2023 kirkus prize for nonfiction nonfiction is our migrant by hector tobar farrar, straus and giroux.

wow. it's been a long journey for me. 30 years ago this fall, i quit my job at the los angeles times to get an mfa and write fiction. and, you know, it's as many of the people in this room, being an author is a journey through delusions, grandeur to a more humble space and to being grateful for being. i am so grateful for this moment. that is for me and for people like me. a victory against silence. i think.

i think that the hardest that many of us writers from so-called marginalized groups face is our reality is so far from the dominant reality. and i've labored 30 years to try to bring a certain kind of story and a certain kind of storytelling into the american mainstream and to the readers that so many of you help us reach. i'm grateful for kirkus. many of us here have i've written six books. like many of us here. i can say that there's only two outlets that have reviewed all my books, and that's publishers weekly and kirkus and i'm grateful to kirkus for what it for writers it helps to counteract that silence that

many of us face. i'm grateful to kirkus for the times that it's given me bad reviews, including for my last novel. because it is a reminder that to me personally that i'm not always the a student that sometimes i'm going get a b and you know, when you give a writer a b, it feels like a c minus. and i this because i've been a book critic and i know that when run into people whose books i've reviewed, the first thing that they tell me is that the ideas they didn't like in my reviews, i'm also grateful to for bringing us all together tonight, for bringing me into the company of my fellow. five finalists just to be celebrated. all of us together, all of us are on a journey.

we all know that as authors, books take years, all of us think collectively in our category. i think we probably spent a good 15, 20, 30 years on our books. so i'm grateful to to kirkus for bringing together and grateful to kirkus also for giving me the first opportunity to publicly thank in the city of new york, two guys who have been the who have made literary career. and the first is jay mendell from william morris endeavor. my agent. you know, i j. jane heralded me from my first agent after she retired late great virginia barber, who was my first agent who picked my my my manuscript out of the pile of manuscripts at what used to be

called the squaw valley community of writers and and reached out to me and then when she retired i became jay's client and i remember that between my second and third book a decade passed. and i wrote to this guy who had once represented me and he returned my email returned my phone calls. and i just so as a as an author of unconventional narratives of narrative lives that are often tinged anger. and with politics. i'm so grateful. jay. you read my books. you've gone. you've never told me not to write something. although you did tell me my novel could have been shorter. and i'm just so grateful for your friendship. thank you much for our collaboration across five books. and. and i hope that collaboration

continues. and i also have the chance to thank my editor shawn macdonald and fsg mcd and like many of you out there, i practiced this speech in my head many times and the speech always includes this line that i'm really grateful to be here and to have won this award because it adds to the legend. sean mcdonald, who is also someone who has just supported my career and all of my unconventional choices. i've never written a book that was like the one i wrote before where i went writing a very angry first novel to a work of nonfiction that was a travelog the first book he wrote, he published to then writing this sweeping novel about los angeles and then back to writing a book about these crazy chilean miners who are trapped in a mine. and i'll never forget what shawn

me when i said to him, you know, you know, they've approached me about writing book about chile and the chilean miners, those guys who were. and he said, well do you want to write that book? because you want to create a work of art or because you want to make a lot of money. and i knew what the right answer was, even though secretly i was thinking both and and so thank you, sean, for your friendship all these years and for supporting my work. thank you to all of you who work in book publishing owing to the incredible people at fsg the publicists who put my in the hands of people who later champion those books. it just takes so many people to make a book. success possible and to keep an author writing. so many of you are gathered here, and especially the critics. you know, we all know the labyrinth solved in giving and texture review you two to any work so.

i thank you all. in addition to thinking my family who will see this i hope if it's recorded i didn't want to tell anybody in my family it would be life. you know stream because i didn't want them to see me lose again. so to mother and with the mala garcia some of my so my father in l.a. thank you for thank you for for introducing books to our home thank you for keeping the secret for 40 years that your own mother was illiterate and and thank you for sharing me sharing with the truth of her illiteracy and helping to explain to myself why i became a writer. thank you to my partner, virginia espino for enduring you know all the ups and downs that come with being married. a writer which many of you know and thank you to my three incredibly brilliant children dante diego and luna for actually reading parts of my books sometime and for listening to my crazy ideas.

and thanks again, to kirkus. this is just such a wonderful wonderful honor. thank you very much. going to talk about. okay. and now for the final award of the evening, the kirkus prize and fiction, the jurors for prize are rosa hernandez, marketing manager and bookseller at third place books in lake forest park, washington, and michael schaub, a contributing writer and critic at kirkus. a contributor to npr and many

other publications. and here to introduce finalists is fiction editor laurie muchnick. the finalists for the 2023 kirkus prize in fiction are, a witness by jamelle brinkley, published by farrar, straus and giroux with a remarkable perception and insight, brinkley stories plunge readers into the lives of black new yorkers. they confront complex, personal situations and changing neighborhoods. brinkley's plots are endlessly engrossing, but the real marvels at collection are the author's keen eye for details. graceful language and acute observation of even the most bewildering human behavior. burnham wood by eleanor, published by farrar. straus and giroux, a group of

guerrilla gardeners in new zealand becomes involved an american built billionaire hoping build himself a doomsday bunker. should they trust him? should they trust each other. catton delivers an engrossing thriller that is also a blistering look at the horrors of late capitalism and a remarkably accomplished work of literary fiction. white cat. black dog by kelly link is published by random house in her formerly original and emotionally rich collection of stories. link reimagined seven fairy tales giving us talking animals. yes, but also ominous airports and characters entering enchanted states by eating gummies. most beguiling are the ways these stories complicate the older, tale's tidy conclusions. this is fiction that lingers like an especially intense dream. the heaven and earth,rory by james mcbride published by riverhead. focusing on the chken hill neighborhood of pottstown, pennsylvania, where in the 1930s, the town's black jewish families lived side by side.

mcbride has created a boisterous american him to community mercy and karmic justice. his characters interlocking lives make for tense, absorb drama as well as warm, humane. the bee sting paul murray, published by farrow and giroux. with his characteristic acuity and murray renders the decline of irish family and painful affecting detail, delving deep into the minds of both parents and children, but never surrendering a delicious sense of irony. while the pressures of the financial crisis are a propulsive force, there others including sexual and peer pressure. this is an irresistible anatomy misfortune. let us descend by jesmyn ward ward. published by scribner. in her first historical novel, maude follows an enslaved girl's passage from north carolina, the slave markets of new orleans, and then to a louisiana sugar plantation, making the unimaginable horror, soul

crushing drudgery and cruelties of slavery. vivid in language saturated with terror, enchantment. and the winner of the 2023 kirkus prize in fiction is the heaven earth grocery store by james mcbride and published by riverhead. you like me? you really like me. my mother used to say, you chew

gum and swallow it. you're behind or close up. so i'm going to use i am. i am. i said earlier that that i told somebody earlier that i didn't care whether want to or not because i didn't need i don't need the money. but i was. that was the lie. so in any case, this this i'd like to thank my my agent, philip brophy, my partner tammy rigorous and people at riverhead and and basically my my fellow finally. younger than me and i hope that they the chance to hit to stand and where i'm standing the essential message i'd like to leave with is that i'm the obvious and, deeply grateful to to to win this this award and

grateful to the people that at kirkus for for cutting the road for so many of us need the road cut so that we can walk down and do what we do. this book is about. about a woman who is dead. now she. she lives in a cemetery. on long island. our name is who? this. she'll ski. she was a jewish woman. lived in suffolk, virginia, in the early part of this last century. and she died in 1942. she was a very unhappy woman. her husband was a rabbi, a so-called rabbi. he didn't love her but her and her oldest son, her only son ran away and was killed in world war two, defending america. her daughter, my mother ran, away and married my father and had 12 black children and raised us in new york and sent us all to college and graduate school, so forth. but when hugh to show she died, really knew who she was and she lived a life where her husband

didn't her. so i put her on the page, i made her loved, and she became shona. hannah. and this book. but the important thing about in this book and the important about the work that i that i've done here and my fellow finalists done, is that our work about struggle and about it's a fight against indifference. and today we meet a very grim time and our work. it means that it means that we really be mindful that the fight against fascism this world begins and ends with each one of us in this game, this publishing business. and so part of the reason why this prize exists, i'm guessing and i'm just superimposing my own opinion. i suppose, is that it encourages us who spend those us who

believe in justice and real, real, real truth to continue on so that so that at the end the day there'll be something left behind for those who follow. so on behalf of myself and i behalf of all the lonely jewish people in this world, we have had to look over their shoulder for decades, hundreds of years. i said, let struggle continue. i said let our fight against indifference be real and let it be in every page, every word, every dot, every mark. let it live. and when you do that, you can call yourself real and true a writer. thank you very much much. i guess the people that.

that concludes the 2023 kirkus prize ceremony. congratulations to all the winners and the finalists for your splendid contributions to contemporary. a big thank you to our production team while bound and to the publicist, the kirkus prize kimberly burns broadside pr. thanks to all of you watching at home on youtube. and for those of you with us here in new york, we invite you to stay and enjoy the food and drink from the buffet set up around the room. please stop by the mcnally jackson table where copies of the kirkus prize and winners are for sale. good evening and thank you.