Living Canon

Kirkus Prize

The Kirkus Prize, awarded since 2014, recognizes the finest books published each year in three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young Readers’ Literature. Each winner receives $50,000, making it one of the richest literary prizes in the world.

• 
  The Slip by Lucas Schaefer

  2025KirkusFiction
• 
  King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson

  2025KirkusNonfiction
• Everybelly by Thao Lam

  2025KirkusYoung Readers
• James by Percival Everett

  2024KirkusFiction
• Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow

  2024KirkusYoung Readers
• Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

  2024KirkusNonfiction
• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

  2023KirkusFiction
• Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on the Meanings and Myths of "Latino" by Héctor Tobar

  2023KirkusNonfiction
• 
  America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History by Ariel Aberg-Riger

  2023KirkusYoung Readers
• 
  Trust by Hernan Diaz

  2022KirkusFiction
• 
  In Sensorium by Tanaïs

  2022KirkusNonfiction
• 
  Himawari House by Harmony Becker

  2022KirkusYoung Readers
• 
  Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir by Brian Broome

  2021KirkusNonfiction
• Harrow by Joy Williams

  2021KirkusFiction
• 
  All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

  2021KirkusYoung Readers
• 
  Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream by Mychal Denzel Smith

  2020KirkusNonfiction
• 
  Luster by Raven Leilani

  2020KirkusFiction
• 
  I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick BarnesGordon C. James(ill.)

  2020KirkusYoung Readers
• 
  The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

  2019KirkusFiction
• New Kid by Jerry CraftJim Callahan(color.)

  2019KirkusYoung Readers
• 
  How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir by Saeed Jones

  2019KirkusNonfiction
• 
  Severance by Ling Ma

  2018KirkusFiction
• 
  Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick BarnesGordon C. James(ill.)

  2018KirkusYoung Readers
• Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays) by Rebecca Solnit

  2018KirkusNonfiction
• 
  What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

  2017KirkusFiction
• 
  The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

  2017KirkusYoung Readers
• 
  The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack E. Davis

  2017KirkusNonfiction
• 
  The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan

  2016KirkusFiction
• 
  In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi

  2016KirkusNonfiction
• 
  As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds

  2016KirkusYoung Readers
• 
  Echo by Pam Muñoz RyanDinara Mirtalipova(ill.)

  2015KirkusYoung Readers
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

  2015KirkusNonfiction
• 
  A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

  2015KirkusFiction
• 
  Euphoria by Lily King

  2014KirkusFiction
• 
  Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

  2014KirkusNonfiction
• 
  Aviary Wonders Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual by Kate Samworth

  2014KirkusYoung Readers

• Fiction
• Nonfiction
• Young Readers’ Literature

See also

• Arthur C. Clarke Award
• Booker Prize
• Caldecott Medal
• Carnegie Medal
• Costa Book Awards
• Edgar Awards
• Giller Prize
• Hugo Awards
• International Booker Prize
• Lambda Literary Awards
• Locus Awards
• National Book Award
• National Book Critics Circle Award
• Nebula Awards
• Newbery Medal
• Nobel Prize in Literature
• PEN/Faulkner Award
• PEN/Hemingway Award
• Pulitzer Prizes
• Women’s Prize for Fiction
• World Fantasy Awards