ANN ARBOR, MI – Two booksellers have been selected to receive a $12,500 prize that provides the aspiring writer-booksellers with the financial support to focus on a full-length manuscript. The Susan Kamil Emerging Writers Prize was established by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and bestselling author Charles Duhigg and his wife Liz Alter, a professor of biology at California State University Monterey Bay. The Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation administers the prize.
The prize is named for Kamil, who was executive vice president and publisher of Random House when she died in 2019. Her publishing career, spanning more than 40 years, began in the 1970s working in the children’s book division of Macmillan Publishers. Over those years she was known for recognizing new literary voices and introducing them to the public.
The recipients:
Robin Bruce is a writer, translator, and interdisciplinary artist from Texas, currently based in Northwest Arkansas. Her work spans fiction, poetry, hybrid memoir, screenwriting, visual storytelling, and music, often exploring themes of love, healing, community, and care in the face of limitation and change. She currently works as a bookseller at Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Her manuscript is historical fiction.
Emily Newman is the owner of Main Street Books in Monroe, WA. They majored in comparative literature at the University of Washington and spent their summers writing plays for the Columbia Gorge School of Theatre. They later taught English in Japan before returning to Washington State, where they now own Main St. Books Monroe. Their manuscript is speculative fiction.
Additional finalists were:
- Alex Abraham, Literary Arts, Portland, OR
- Dominique Angeles, Changing Hands, Tempe, AZ
- Simon Boes, Friends Book Cellar, Lexington, KY
- Shannon Daniels, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI
- Erin Dodge, Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop, ME
- Caitlyn Hartman, The Literary, Champaign, IL
- Stefen Holtrey, Brilliant Books, Traverse City, MI
- Hallee Israel, Pearl’s Books, Fayetteville, AR
- Tricia Kiehn, Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane, WA
- Sam Krowchenko, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI
- Justin Minkel, Pearl’s Books, Fayetteville, AR
- Meadow Osmun, The Vermont Book Shop, Middlebury, VT
- Timothy Otte, Wild Rumpus Books, Minneapolis, MN
- Madison Park, Barnes & Noble; Noblesville, IN
- Rachel Randolph, Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN
- Molly Roberts, Prairie Lights Books, Iowa City, IA
- Stella Í. Rothe, Barnes & Noble, Troy, MI
- Lillian Tschudi-Campbell, Red Balloon Bookshop, Saint Paul, MN
- Nicholas Yandell, Powell’s City of Books, Portland, OR
“More than 150 aspiring writer-booksellers applied for this incredibly generous and life-changing prize,” said Binc Executive Director Pam French. “Congratulations to Emily and Robin and our sincere gratitude to the judges who committed countless hours to reviewing the applications, Charles and Liz, and all the talented finalists.”
Any writer working on a full-length manuscript, graphic novel, or comic who is currently employed at a physical book or comic store in the U.S. and has been for a minimum of three months was eligible to apply.