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

---

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.

Four-Hundredth Anniversary Sale: Celebrate Four Centuries of 'Don Quixote'

Today, April 22, 2016, marks the 400th anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes's death. His masterwork, Don Quixote of La Mancha, is often called the first modern novel and even the book that invented fiction.  In honor of the occasion, Restless Books has a special offer on our Restless Classics edition of Don Quixote, which features 20 stunning illustrations by the Mexican artist Eko and a thought-provoking, linked series of online teaching videos by Quixote scholar Ilan Stavans, who also introduces the book. Watch the first video below, in which Stavans discusses the world of Cervantes and his unforgettable literary creation.

Special offer: Buy Don Quixote and Get a Free Archival Print

We're offering a special deal on our Restless Classics edition of Don Quixote: Buy the book for $20 from Restless and get a free, limited edition archival print of Eko's illustrations when you enter the discount code "PRINT" at checkout. A $42.99 value!  

View fullsize

Video: An Introduction to Don Quixote and Miguel de Cervantes

Reading for Obama's Visit to Cuba: Cuban Science Fiction

It seems worth noting that on his historic visit to Cuba, President Obama's very first activity was laying a wreath at the memorial of José Martí. As the president, who was himself somewhat of a poetry snob in his younger days, must know, Cuban literature has always been closely intertwined with its politics (Martí was as much a poetic founding father as he was a military and nationalist hero), and the written word will be a significant part of fostering meaningful exchange between the long-separated Cuba and United States. In honor of the president's official visit (the first since Calvin Coolidge's in 1928), check out Restless's Cuban Science Fiction Bundle—the first two books in the groundbreaking series, Agustín de Rojas's A Legend of the Future and Yoss's A Planet for Rent, for the steeply discounted price of just $20, available only from Restless.