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Aspen Words Literary Prize 2025

The 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize went to Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. 5 books made the shortlist and 14 the longlist.

Winner

  1. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orangesource (opens in a new tab)

Shortlist

  1. Before the Mango Ripens by Afabwaje Kuriansource (opens in a new tab)
  2. James by Percival Everettsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Safekeep by Yael van der Woudensource (opens in a new tab)
  4. There Is a Rio Grande in Heaven by Ruben Reyes Jr.source (opens in a new tab)

Longlist

  1. A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowdasource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalezsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Devil Is Fine by John Verchersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Fire Exit by Morgan Taltysource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphatsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Lilith by Eric Rickstadsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Madwoman by Chelsea Biekersource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbellsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Road to the Salt Sea by Samuel Kọ́láwọlésource (opens in a new tab)

About the Aspen Words Literary Prize

Winner, finalists (Shortlist) and longlist for every prize year since the first in 2018. Year is the prize year Aspen Words uses, announced each spring for fiction published the year before. Each book appears once, at its highest level. Lists come from Aspen Words' own pages: archive.org snapshots of the per-year and longlist/finalist pages for 2018-2025, and the live prize page for the 2025 longlist and the 2023-2025 winners. The 2026 prize falls outside the catalog's year range.

Organization: Aspen Words (Aspen Institute). Years are award years, which can differ from publication years. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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