Last Two Booker Prize Winners Made 2015 Short List – Who's Next?

Marlon James, and Paul Beatty both made the short list for the 2015 $50,000 St. Francis College Literary Prize. They are also recipients of the last two Man Booker Prizes establishing St. Francis as a center for amazing literature. (Watch Marlon James at St. Francis / Watch a panel with the whole 2015 short list)

Now St. Francis is opening submissions for the 2017 Prize, dedicated to supporting mid-career writers. Who will be the next great writers to make the short list?

"Writers tend to get more attention at the start of their literary journey or after a full career of publishing, but writers at mid-career, still finding their voice, are often neglected," said Ian Maloney, Director of the Literary Prize and an English Professor at St. Francis College. "This $50,000 prize, which is one of the richest prizes anywhere, says that we value authors at this crucial stage in their career and want to draw attention to the creators in this sort of critical no-man's land."

The 2017 Literary Prize will be awarded to a mid-career author for their third to fifth work of fiction published between June 2015 and May 2017. Submissions are due May 15, 2017. Full instructions can be found at sfc.edu/literaryprize.

The short list will be announced during the summer of 2017 with the winner announced at the Brooklyn Book Festival Gala in September.

The 2015 Literary Prize was won by Maud Casey, author of, The Man Who Walked Away. Casey's novel which takes a look at the beginnings of mental health care through one man's journey was selected from 130 submissions.

The jury included authors Sigrid Nunez (A Feather on the Breath of God), Erin McGraw (The Baby Tree), and Daniel Torday (The Last Flight of Poxl West). Past juries have included Michael Chabon, Jonathan Lethem, Kate Christensen, and Francine Prose.

St. Francis College Literary Prize Past Winners:

• 2009 Aleksandar Hemon, Love and Obstacles
• 2011 Jonathan Dee, The Privileges
• 2013 David Vann, Dirt
• 2015 Maud Casey, The Man Who Walked Away

St. Francis College, founded in 1859 by the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn, is located in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Since its founding, the College has pursued its Franciscan mission to provide an affordable, high-quality education to students from New York City's five boroughs and beyond.

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St. Francis College, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201
www.sfc.edu