I’ve somewhat recovered from my state of ecstatic shock after being awarded the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which celebrates work by women and nonbinary writers in the US and Canada, a mission that resounds deeply with me. I love this pic from awards night, taken by the talented Alex Lam for George Pimentel Photography. How thrilling to be surrounded by so many amazing writers and book lovers! I’d like to thank all of the lovely people from the Carol Shields Prize: the board, the staff who worked feats to sorcery to bring attention to writers on the long and short lists, the jury who chose such a fascinating array of fiction, my wonderful publisher Tin House, and my dogged agent Madeline Ticknor. It was a joy to read the brilliant books of my fellow finalists and to hang out with “the hellion crew”: Lee Lai, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Sonya Walger, and Megha Majumdar, as well as the 2025 Carol Shields winner, Canisia Lubrin.
