The Brooklyn Public Library has named six finalists for its 2025 Book Prize, highlighting voices that speak to the borough’s identity while drawing on stories from across the globe.
The annual prize was established in 2015 by the Brooklyn Eagles, a group of young Brooklynites who looked to create a network broader than the library itself. The honor recognizes writers whose work resonates with the borough’s diverse communities and literary spirit. This year’s shortlist was selected by BPL librarians and staff, who “have extensive knowledge of the contemporary writing and of the borough’s avid reading community.”
BPL President and CEO Linda E. Johnson said the prize “celebrates writers, poets and journalists who capture the culture and ethos of our borough.”
“Despite being set across the globe, the titles on this year’s shortlist center on themes that define Brooklyn: cross-cultural dialogue, immigration, technological advancement and artistic expression,” she continued.
Fiction shortlist
“The Volcano Daughters” by Gina María Balibrera, a reimagining of El Salvador’s history through the lens of two sisters separated and forced into the service of a dictator. “””“Hum” by Helen Phillips follows a woman in a “near-future world” who loses her job to AI and must rely on a robot “hum” to protect her family in a climate-ravaged world.
“In Universes“ by Emet North explores a cosmology researcher whose interest in the multiverse explores how life would be if they made different choices.
Nonfiction shortlist
“Forest of Noise: Poems“ by Mosab Abu Toha, a collection of words about life in the Gaza occupation by a Pulitzer-Prize-winning Palestinian poet.
“Life and Death of the American Worker: The Immigrants Taking on America’s Largest Meatpacking Company” by Alice Driver chronicles the experiences of immigrant laborers at Tyson Foods after a chemical accident and negligence during the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually leading to a landmark lawsuit.
“Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde,“ by Alexis Pauline Gumbs explores how Lorde’s Black feminist poems offer a guide to living on a planet with an ever-changing ecology.
The six authors will read their works in a free public conversation and reading with BPL librarian and prize chair Jess Harwick at Central Library on Sept. 19, and the winners will celebrate with a reading and panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sept. 21.
Since its founding, the prize has recognized a wide range of voices, with past winners including Ocean Vuong, Carmen Maria Machado, Xochitl Gonzalez and Miriam Toews.
