Two New York City books will split this year’s $70,000 Gotham Book Prize.
Today, the Gotham Book Prize, a new annual award created during the first year of the pandemic to honor and support the best writing about New York City, announced its 2023 winners.
This year, the prize will be increased from $50,000 to $70,000 and split between two winners, selected from a list of 11 finalists announced earlier this year: Stories from the Tenants Downstairs, by Sidik Fofana and The Sewing Girl’s Tale, by John Wood Sweet.
“We are thrilled to increase the prize money this year and honor two outstanding authors — one whose sharp historical inquiry brings to life New York City’s past, and another whose vivid character development captures the voice of New York City today,” said Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson, co-creators of the Gotham Book Prize, in a press release. “We started the Gotham Book Prize during the pandemic to encourage writers to share unique stories about New York, and both of these books have accomplished exactly this. We expect both to be cemented in the canon of great New York City books.”
The previous winners of the Gotham Book Prize, awarded to “the best book published that calendar year—either fiction or nonfiction—that either is about New York City or takes place in New York City” are Deacon King Kong by James McBride (2021) and Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott (2022).
