June 14, 2024, 11:45am
Hear ye, hear ye! The Seattle-based novelist E.J. Koh has won the 24th annual NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award for her book The Liberators.
A time and space-hopping epic following two Korean families, The Liberators enlists “memory, trauma, and empathy” to examine the irrevocable decisions we make in love and war.
Though this is her debut novel, Koh is already a much-feted poet, translator, and memoirist. Her previous books include a memoir The Magical Language of Others (Tin House), and a poetry collection, A Lesser Love (LSU Press).
Since 2001, the Young Lions Fiction Award has recognized “an American writer age 35 or younger for either a novel or a collection of short stories.” Previous Lions include Catherine Lacey, Bryan Washington, and Ling Ma. This year’s judging panel included the authors A. M. Homes, Caoilinn Hughes, and last year’s winner, Zain Khalid.
Congratulations to E.J., and all of the finalists!