Give it Up for the JCO Prize. Give Till it Doesn’t Hurt for NewLit

OAKLAND, CA—Twenty-eight authors have been longlisted for the 2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize by New Literary Project (NewLit). The annual $50,000 award honors a mid-career author of fiction in the midst of a burgeoning career, a distinguished writer who has emerged and is still emerging. The Prize celebrates past achievement and supports forthcoming work. The 2026 JCO Prize will be the eleventh such award.

2026 JCO Prize Longlisted Authors & Most Recent Book of Fiction

Marie-Helene Bertino, Exit Zero (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Matt Bondurant, North Country (Blackstone Publishing)

Elaine Castillo, Moderation (Viking)

Nathan Harrris, Amity (Little, Brown)

Jonas Hassen Khemiri, The Sisters (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Lily King, Heart the Lover (Grove Atlantic)

Binnie Kirshenbaum, Counting Backwards (Soho Press)

Katie Kitamura, Audition (Riverhead Books)

Erika Krouse, Save Me, Stranger (Flatiron Books)

Norman Lock, Eden's Clock (Bellevue Literary Press)

Patricia Lockwood, Will There Ever Be Another You (Riverhead Books)

Rebecca Makkai, I Have Some Questions for You (Viking)

Stewart O’Nan, Evensong (Grove Atlantic)

Peter Orner, The Gossip Columnist's Daughter (Little, Brown)

Lori Ostlund, Are You Happy? (Astra House)

Hannah Pittard, If You Love It, Let It Kill You (Holt)

Andrew Porter, The Imagined Life (Knopf)

Eric Puchner, Dream State (Penguin Random House, Doubleday)

Jamie Quatro, Two-Step Devil (Grove Atlantic)

Patrick Ryan, Buckeye (Random House)

Danzy Senna, Colored Television (Riverhead Books)

Gary Shteyngart, Vera, Or Faith (Random House)

Joan Silber, Mercy (Counterpoint Press)

Marisa Silver, At Last (Simon & Schuster)

Susan Straight, Sacrament (Counterpoint Press)

Gabriel Tallent, Crux (Riverhead Books)

Alejandro Varela, Middle Spoon (Viking)

Bryan Washington, Palaver (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Jurors for the 2026 JCO Prize are Laura Cogan, Joseph Di Prisco, Fiona McFarlane, Molly Metherd, Geoffrey G. O’Brien, and David Wood. The jury hands up a shortlist of finalists to the New Literary Project Board of Directors, which determines the Prize Recipient. Joyce Carol Oates serves as an Honorary Director.

Read the Press Release

Speaking of Joyce Carol Oates…

Literary Hub Crowns JCO “Literary Twitter’s” Queen

It wasn’t even close. With 72.6% of the vote, Joyce Carol Oates was named the champion of Literary Twitter, calling her “a true master of the short post.” What exactly is, or was, Literary Twitter? If you know, you know. Otherwise, you can read their post below for context.

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Give Till it Doesn’t Hurt for NewLit Match:

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NewLit has been mixing it up since 2015. The choice is clear. Fund the arts. As much as you can. Educate kids, support artists.

Yes, the planet needs rescuing, and people need food and housing and health care. The world needs all that and more. The world also needs the nourishment, refuge, and attention of the arts.

Young people who are marginalized—now speaking in their own voices. Writers now telling, and teachers now teaching, the stories of our lives. That’s what helps make democracy a democracy. That’s what NewLit is doing.

Thank you for choosing to join with us. (Not exactly an elevator pitch. Which is fine by us. Because sometimes it’s healthier to take the stairs.)

Please consider a donation to New Literary Project. We have a donor match that will double your gift.

- $500 gives the gift of Simpsonistas, Vol. 7: Tales from New Literary Project to a NewLit creative writing workshop

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