Fiction, Book Awards | featured news

Author Claire Vaye Watkins was awarded the Story Prize in New York on Wednesday evening for her debut collection, "Battleborn." As winner she receives $20,000. Two finalists for the prize -- Dan Chaon for "Stay Awake" and Junot Diaz for "This Is How You Lose Her" -- will receive $5,000 each. The Story Prize is the most significant award in the U.S. dedicated to collections of short fiction.

Thomas Mallon's novel about the scandal that brought down Richard Nixon is a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award for fiction. Published by Random House Inc., Mallon's "Watergate" was among five nominees for the $15,000 award. Three other books announced Wednesday were published by smaller presses, as judges bypassed such high-profile works of fiction as Louise Erdrich's "The Round House" and Junot Diaz's "This Is How You Lose Her."

Yale University announced on Monday the inaugural winners of the Windham Campbell Prizes, which are given to writers for outstanding achievement in fiction, nonfiction and drama. Nine prizes of $150,000 each are to be awarded to James Salter, Zoë Wicomb and Tom McCarthy in fiction; Jonny Steinberg, Adina Hoffman and Jeremy Scahill in nonfiction; and Naomi Wallace, Stephen Adly Guirgis and Tarell Alvin McCraney in drama.