The National Book Foundation has unveiled its 2025 5 Under 35 honorees, recognizing five fiction writers under 35 whose debut works are poised to make a significant impact on the literary world. The honorees were selected by five independent judges, each a previous National Book Foundation honoree. These emerging voices have published their first fiction book within the last five years.
The program, sponsored by the Amazon Literary Partnership, awards each honoree $1,250. This year’s honorees have earned accolades from prestigious organizations such as the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, and the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. Their work has appeared in top literary publications like The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and McSweeney’s.
The 2025 honorees include two short story collections, one story-in-verse, and two novels. Their works explore themes of settler-colonialism, capitalism, patriarchy, grief, identity, and forgiveness. Notable selections include Stacie Shannon Denetsosie’s The Missing Morningstar and Other Stories, a collection highlighting Diné culture and intergenerational trauma, and Megan Howell’s Softie, a tender examination of sisterhood and womanhood. Maggie Millner’s Couplets: A Love Story offers a narrative in rhyming couplets that delves into sexuality and desire, while Alexander Sammartino’s Last Acts explores addiction and violence in the Arizona desert. Jemimah Wei’s The Original Daughter reflects on ambition and sacrifice in Singapore during the turn of the millennium.
The 2025 selectors include 2020 National Book Award Finalist Deesha Philyaw, 2023 Longlister Mona Susan Power, 2013 Finalist George Saunders, 2023 5 Under 35 Honoree Morgan Talty, and 2020 Honoree C Pam Zhang.
The honorees will be celebrated at a ceremony on June 4 at Littlefield in Brooklyn, NY, and will be livestreamed for global audiences. The event will feature readings, introductions by the selectors, and a cash bar. Tickets are available for purchase, and books will be sold on-site through Books Are Magic.
Previous 5 Under 35 honorees include a range of acclaimed authors such as Lesley Nneka Arimah, Raven Leilani, Bryan Washington, and Claire Vaye Watkins.
