Yesterday, the National Book Foundation announced the “5 Under 35” selections for 2009:
Now in its fourth year, “5 Under 35” has become the highly-anticipated kick-off event for National Book Awards week. In a nod to Brooklyn’s status as the literary epicenter of New York City, the Foundation has moved the event to the Powerhouse Arena in DUMBO. That evening, each author will be introduced by the writer who selected them.
The 2009 5 Under 35 Honorees are:
- Ceridwen Dovey, for Blood Kin (Selected by Rachel Kushner, 2008 Fiction Finalist for Telex from Cuba).
- C. E. Morgan, for All the Living (Selected by Christine Schutt, 2004 Fiction Finalist for Florida).
Of Morgan’s novel, our reviewer wrote:
C.E. Morgan’s gossamer debut novel, All the Living, tells a simple story with a graceful, probing style that elevates it far above simplicity. Chronicling a young woman’s self-discovery through the promise of love and the inevitable disappointments that ensue, Morgan’s spare but intense narrative is a poetic meditation that burrows to our most basic human emotions.
- Lydia Peelle, for Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing (Selected by Salvatore Scibona, 2008 Fiction Finalist for The End).
- Karen Russell, for St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (Selected by Dan Chaon, 2001 Fiction Finalist for Among the Missing).
Our reviewer called the book a “startlingly original collection… [which] features graceful and seductive prose that transports the reader into surreal and yet utterly plausible realms.”
- Josh Weil, for The New Valley (Selected by Lily Tuck, 2004 Fiction Winner for The News from Paraguay)
Do any readers have comments on the recognized books we haven’t reviewed (Blood Kin, Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing, The New Valley)? Any there other under-35s you would have liked to see on the list?
