Announcing the Finalists for the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing

After long and difficult deliberation, Restless Books is pleased to announce the finalists for our Prize for New Immigrant Writing. Our judges were astounded by the sheer quality and diversity of submissions to this inaugural running of the prize. We thank everyone who submitted their work for making the selection process so enjoyable, and we can't wait to introduce the world to a remarkable debut author when we publish the winning book next year.

Without further ado, here is the shortlist:

• The Alexandria You Are Losing, by Yasser Yehia El-Sayed

• The End of Peril, the End of Enmity, the End of Strife, A Haven, by Thirii Myint

• Heartland, by Ana Simo

• Intersections, by Yong Takahashi

• Temporary People, by Deepak Unnikrishnan

See below for more information about the finalists. The prize winner will be announced in early May. Stay tuned!

Congratulations to the finalists and a hearty thank you to all who submitted.

Sincerely, 

The judges—Maaza Mengiste, Javier Molea, and Ilan Stavans—and the Restless Books team

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About the Finalists

Yasser Yehia El-Sayed

An Egyptian-American (by way of Libya and Scotland), Yasser Yehia El-Sayed is a high-risk obstetrician and the dean of maternal and child health at Stanford’s School of Medicine. The Alexandria You Are Losing collects stories about North Africans reckoning with cross-cultural experience as they find their place, both at home and abroad.

Thirii Myint

Born in the city of Yangon, Thirii Myint is a PhD candidate in English and Creative Writing at the University of Denver. Influenced largely by Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North, Myint’s collection and novella grew out of the author’s intention to render categories of “immigrant” and “ethnic” literature obsolete.

Ana Simo

Ana Simo is a Cuban-born New York writer and lesbian activist.  In her novel, Heartland, a rogue Latina writer, a mysterious Anglo art dealer and a New Racialism leader collide, sparking an irreverent riff on the burdens of history, sex, guilt, and revenge.

Yong Takahashi

Yong Takahashi moved from Seoul to Detroit when she was two years old and has worked in accounting and real estate, all the while writing fiction on the side. Intersections, her collection of linked stories set in and around Atlanta, suggests the interconnectedness of disparate people in a city supposedly segregated by race.

Deepak Unnikrishnan

Deepak Unnikrishnan moved from Abu Dhabi to the United States when he was twenty years old to attend college; he holds an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and has taught at the Institute and at NYU Abu Dhabi. With stylistic cues taken from Salman Rushdie and George Saunders, the short stories of Temporary People illuminate how temporary status affects noncitizen migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates.

Announcing The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing

Did you know that five of America's past six Nobel laureates in literature have been foreign-born? One even immigrated to the country illegally. Immigrants have become an increasingly important driving force behind American letters and constantly expand our sense of what it means to be American. Restless Books is proud to contribute to this cultural lifeblood in its introduction of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing.

As our publisher, Ilan Stavans, says:

"The ethos of America is defined by its immigrants. Their stories have always been an essential component of the nation’s cultural consciousness, from Isaac Bashevis Singer to Jhumpa Lahiri, from Jacob Riis to Maxine Hong Kingston. In novels, short stories, memoirs, and works of journalism, immigrants have shown us what resilience and family devotion we’re capable of, and have expanded our sense of what it means to be American. In these times of intense xenophobia, it is more important than ever that these stories reach the broadest possible audience.

With that in mind, we are proud to announce the first Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. We are looking for extraordinary submissions from emerging writers of sharp, culture-straddling writing that addresses American identity in a global age. Each year, a distinguished panel of judges will select a winning manuscript to be published by Restless Books. We can’t wait to read what the new voices of America have to say, and to share it with the world." 

This year, a panel of esteemed judges (all immigrants themselves) consisting of Restless publisher Ilan Stavans, novelist Maaza Mengiste, and McNally-Jackson bookseller Javier Molea will select a book-length work of fiction to be published by Restless Books. The winning author will receive a $10,000 advance.

Submissions are open from September 1 to December 31, 2015. Finalists will be announced on April 15, 2016 and the winner in May 2016. Full submission guidelines and more information can be found at www.restlessbooks.com/prize-for-new-immigrant-writing.

Please help us spread the word about The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing! It will be an honor to share these vibrant new perspectives with the world.