The National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” honorees have been announced. Because this is the 10th anniversary of the program, the foundation decided to mix it up a bit with how honorees were chosen. This year, instead of having former National Book Award candidates/winners select, previous years’ “5 Under 35s” each chose one author. They’ll all be celebrated on November 16, 2015 at the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn, with LeVar Burton hosting the ceremony.
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere author ZZ Packer chose Angela Flournoy, author of The Turner House — which examines the weight of the uncertain fate of one family’s heirloom Detroit home. Dinaw Mengestu (The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears) chose Fra Keeler author Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi. (Fra Keeler‘s narrative also happens to be driven by an old house — seeing its protagonist becoming obsessed with the death of its previous owner.)
Once the Shore author Paul Yoon selected Colin Barrett, whose Guardian First Book Award winning collection of short stories, Young Skin, was released this year. Tracy O’Neill (The Hopeful) was honored by Fiona Maazel (Last Last Chance); The Hopeful follows a young figure skater who becomes injured and subsequently addicted to painkillers. Lastly, Megan Kruse was selected by Redeployment writer Phil Clay. Kruse’s 2015 novel, Call Me Home, centers around a Texas family, and explores “what it means to be queer in the rural West, and the changing idea of home.”
[Via Buzzfeed]