Subscribe to our newsletter
New York, NY (April 2, 2025) – The National Book Foundation today announced its annual 5 Under 35 honorees, a selection of five fiction writers under the age of 35 whose debut work promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape. The honorees were handpicked by a slate of five independent selectors, also announced today, each of whom has been previously honored by the National Book Foundation. Honorees are writers who have published their first and only book of fiction—either a short story collection or a novel—within the last five years. The National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 program is sponsored by the Amazon Literary Partnership, and each honoree receives a $1,250 prize.
“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 program—as of today’s announcement, 5 Under 35 has highlighted a total of 100 remarkable fiction writers whose debuts and subsequent works have impacted readers around the country and world,” said David Steinberger, Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Book Foundation. “We have no doubt that the 2025 5 Under 35 honorees will similarly continue to shape contemporary fiction, and it is our honor to champion their boundless potential and talent.”
The 2025 5 Under 35 honorees have been honored by the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Lambda Literary Award, the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection, and the William Van Dyke Short Story Prize. Their work has been supported by the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Kwiatek Fellowship, and the Stegner Fellowship, among others. Honorees’ writing has appeared in Guernica, Narrative, The Nashville Review, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, The Paris Review, The Yale Review, and elsewhere.
This year’s selections feature two short story collections, one story-in-verse, and two novels. Together, these debut works interrogate the impact of settler-colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy, and explore the nature of grief, identity, and forgiveness. Stacie Shannon Denetsosie’s debut collection, The Missing Morningstar and Other Stories, vividly depicts the lives of Diné people, addressing the complexities of intergenerational trauma and the legacies of family bonds, cultural traditions, and hope. The stories in Megan Howell’s collection Softie tenderly examine sisterhood and womanhood, and find meaning in the power of community—even, or perhaps most especially, in the face of overwhelming solitude. Maggie Millner brings verse to this year’s selections with Couplets: A Love Story, a propulsive and restless narrative told in rhyming couplets and vignettes, of a 20-something woman exploring her sexuality, and asking what it means to want and to be wanted. In Alexander Sammartino’s novel, Last Acts, readers follow a father-son duo as they journey across the Arizona desert in this raucous story of addiction, gun violence, and the absurdity of living. Set in Singapore during the arrival of the new millennium, The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei asks what we’re willing to sacrifice—of ourselves, our families, and our communities—in order to chase after our greatest ambitions.
The 2025 5 Under 35 selectors are 2020 National Book Award Finalist Deesha Philyaw, 2023 National Book Award Longlister Mona Susan Power, 2013 National Book Award Finalist George Saunders, 2023 5 Under 35 Honoree Morgan Talty, and 2020 5 Under 35 Honoree C Pam Zhang. Their decisions are made independently of the National Book Foundation staff and Board of Directors.
“5 Under 35 proudly supports talented writers at the start of their literary careers, and our deepest gratitude goes to our expert selectors for identifying five brilliant new voices in fiction,” said Ruth Dickey, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. “Across two decades, 5 Under 35 honorees have gone on to be recognized by some of the most prestigious literary prizes, including the National Book Awards, and we’ve witnessed those honorees then mentor the next generation of writers—a cycle of recognition, community, and celebration that connects more and more readers with exceptional fiction.”
The honorees will be celebrated at the 2025 5 Under 35 Ceremony on Wednesday, June 4 at Littlefield in Brooklyn, NY, and livestreamed for readers everywhere. The evening will include introductions by the honorees’ selectors, readings, and a cash bar. The event is open to the public and is 21+; tickets are available for purchase here. Books will be available for sale on site thanks to Books Are Magic.
Previous 5 Under 35 honorees include Lesley Nneka Arimah, Caleb Azumah Nelson, K-Ming Chang, Anelise Chen, Naima Coster, Danielle Evans, Yaa Gyasi, Isabella Hammad, Lydia Kiesling, Raven Leilani, Johannes Lichtman, Valeria Luiselli, Fatima Farheen Mirza, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Karen Russell, Claire Vaye Watkins, Bryan Washington, Ashley Wurzbacher, Tiphanie Yanique, and C Pam Zhang, as well as National Book Award Longlisters Molly Antopol and Brit Bennett, National Book Award Finalists Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Akwaeke Emezi, Angela Flournoy, and Téa Obreht, 2014 National Book Award Winner Phil Klay, 2020 National Book Award Winner Charles Yu, and 2023 National Book Award Winner Justin Torres.
Stacie Shannon Denetsosie, The Missing Morningstar and Other Stories
Torrey House Press
Selected by Mona Susan Power, 2023 National Book Award Longlister
Megan Howell, Softie
West Virginia University Press
Selected by Deesha Philyaw, 2020 National Book Award Finalist
Maggie Millner, Couplets: A Love Story
Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan
Selected by C Pam Zhang, 2020 5 Under 35 Honoree
Alexander Sammartino, Last Acts
Scribner / Simon & Schuster
Selected by George Saunders, 2013 National Book Award Finalist
Jemimah Wei, The Original Daughter
Doubleday / Penguin Random House
Selected by Morgan Talty, 2023 5 Under 35 Honoree
