2025 Zora Awards nominees announced: Here's the complete list
Finalists for the 2025 Zora Awards are here, spotlighting some of the most exciting voices in Black literature right now.
In general fiction, look out for Myriam J.A. Chancy's "Village Weavers," Yvonne Battle-Felton's "Curdle Creek," and Percival Everett's "James."
Debut fiction nominees include Sarai Johnson with "Grown Women," Essie Chambers's "Swift River," and Afabwaje Kurian's "Before the Mango Ripens."
Nonfiction and poetry finalists
This year marks the first time the awards are named after literary legend Zora Neale Hurston—just in time for the Foundation's 35th anniversary.
Nonfiction finalists include Catherine Joy White ("This Thread of Gold"), Felicia B. George ("When Detroit Played the Numbers"), Aaron Robertson, Dionne Brand, Carvell Wallace, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs, while poetry nods go to Carl Phillips ("Scattered Snows, to the North"), Alison C. Rollins ("Black Bell"), and Okwudili Nebeolisa ("Terminal Maladies").
Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on October 17, with custom statuettes designed by Rebecca Robinson honoring Hurston's legacy.