The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize

Brooklyn Public Library is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2023 BPL Book Prize!

Each year Brooklyn Public Library honors outstanding works of nonfiction and fiction with a prize given in the fall. Selected by librarians and library staff, who draw on their broad knowledge of literature and the many populations they serve, the BPL Book Prize recognizes writing that captures the spirit of Brooklyn, one of the most socially and culturally diverse communities in the country. 

2023 BPL Book Prize Winners

2023 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Winners

Fiction Winner: Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (FSG)

Nonfiction Winner: Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H (The Dial Press)

Borrow the books from BPL, then take your reading to the next level with BKLYN Book Club Kits—a set of virtual resources that complement each selection, with discussion questions, author interviews, recipes, playlists and more. We have a kit for this year's winners and the shortlist nominees!


Brooklyn Public Library 2023 Book Prize Shorlist

2023 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Shortlist

Fiction Shortlist

Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah (Algonquin)

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (William Morrow)

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (FSG)

Nonfiction Shortlist

Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen (BOA Editions, LTD)

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H (The Dial Press)

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation by Linda Villarosa (Anchor)


2023 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize Longlist

Fiction Longlist

Boulder by Eva Baltasar; translated by Julia Sanches (And Other Stories)

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin (Scribner)

All the Blood We Share by Camilla Bruce (Berkley)

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (Tor Books) 

If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery (MCD)

Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah (Algonquin)

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (William Morrow)

Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (FSG)

When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff (Harper)

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (MCD)

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb (Anchor)

We Are a Haunting by Tyriek White (Astra Publishing)

Nonfiction Longlist

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton (Drawn and Quarterly)

Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen (BOA Editions, LTD)

A Living Remedy: A Memoir by Nicole Chung (Ecco)

On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe by Caroline Dodds Pennock (Knopf)

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H (The Dial Press)

Muse Found in a Colonized Body by Yesenia Montilla (Four Way Books)

The New Yorkers: 31 Remarkable People, 400 Years, and the Untold Biography of the World’s Greatest City by Sam Roberts (Bloomsbury Publishing)

Above Ground by Clint Smith (Little, Brown and Company)

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation by Linda Villarosa (Anchor)

Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life by Alice Wong (Vintage)

Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright (Hachette Books)

From From: Poems by Monica Youn (Graywolf)


 

The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize was established in 2015 by the Brooklyn Eagles, a group of young and engaged Brooklynites who are passionate about Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) and work to engage new patrons, promote the Library as a cultural center, and build a vibrant community around the resources the library offers.

The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize is generously underwritten by the Peck Stacpoole Foundation

The BPL Book Prize

The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize is BPL's annual honor for literature.

 

Get social with us

Reading the nominated books? Let us know what you think! The Library is on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and more.

 

Browse our book club kits

Take your reading to the next level with Bklyn Book Club Kits! Each kit contains virtual resources that complement individual books, such as discussion questions, recipes, playlists and author content for many of our past Book Prize winners and nominees.

Learn more