The Ursula K. Le Guin Trust today announced the shortlist for the 2023 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. The prize honors a book-length work of imaginative fiction with $25,000. The nine shortlisted books will be considered by a panel of five jurors— William Alexander, Alexander Chee, Karen Joy Fowler, Tochi Onyebuchi, and Shruti Swamy. The winner will be announced on October 21, Ursula K. Le Guin’s birthday. 

Here is the Shortlist for the 2023 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction.

• Wolfish by Christiane M. Andrews
• Arboreality by Rebecca Campbell
• Spear by Nicola Griffith
• Ten Planets by Yuri Herrera, translated by Lisa Dillman
• The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
• Brother Alive by Zain Khalid
• Meet Us by the Roaring Sea by Akil Kumarasamy
• Geometries of Belonging by R.B. Lemberg
• Drinking from Graveyard Wells by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu 

The Prize is given to a writer whose book reflects the concepts and ideas that are central to Ursula’s own work, which include (but are not limited to): hope, equity, and freedom; non-violence and alternatives to conflict; and a holistic view of humanity’s place in the natural world. Read more about the prize and eligibility requirements here.