Check Out Literary Award-Nominated Books And Authors In Our Neighborhood

Finally, a summer reading list that revolves around ‘the most literary borough’, featuring books that are not only fun to read but can teach us more about the place we call home.

Last week, the Brooklyn Public Library announced the fiction and nonfiction longlist nominees for the second annual Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize, an award bestowed on two Brooklyn authors who artfully portray the borough’s life and culture.

“The award celebrates the authors, booksellers, librarians and readers who have made Brooklyn the most literary borough in America’s most literary city,” said BPL President and CEO Linda E. Johnson.

Thanks to local bookstores in Park Slope and Fort Greene for curating a fantastic selection of local authors and submitting books for the Prize, including Community Bookstore, BookCourt, Barnes & Noble (7th Avenue & Court Street), and Greenlight Bookstore.

Both Gowanus and Park Slope made impressive showings. Our locals nominees include:

Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize Longlist, Fiction
Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey (Gowanus)
Hotels of North America by Rick Moody (Park Slope)
Why We Came to the City by Kristopher Jansma (Park Slope)

Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize Longlist, Nonfiction
Made in Brooklyn: An Essential Guide to the Borough’s Artisanal Food & Drink Makers by Melissa Schreiber Vaughan and Susanne König (Park Slope)
Gowanus: Brooklyn’s Curious Canal by Joseph Alexiou (Gowanus/Prospect Heights)

You can read our article on Joseph Alexiou and his book here.

The two winners, one fiction and one nonfiction, will be announced at the Brooklyn Eagles Fundraiser event in September, and awarded $2,500.

In 2015, Preparation for the Next Life, Atticus Lish’s debut novel was selected as the winner of the fiction award for the Inaugural Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize. The nonfiction award went to The Edge Becomes the Center: An Oral History of Gentrification in the 21st Century by author and journalist DW Gibson.

Check out the full list of nominees here, and also visit any branch of the Brooklyn Public Library to literally check out all of the nominated titles for the 2016 Eagle Literary Award!

Additional reporting by Donny Levit.