Chautauqua Institution is pleased to announce seven exceptional books as the 2026 finalists for The Chautauqua Prize, now in its 15th year:   

• Universality: A Novel by Natasha Brown (Random House) 
• Flashlight: A Novel by Susan Choi (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) 
• O Sinners! A Novel by Nicole Cuffy (One World) 
• Old School Indian: A Novel by Aaron John Curtis (Zando – Hillman Grad Books) 
• Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd (Haymarket Books) 
• The River is Waiting: A Novel by Wally Lamb (Scribner) 
• This is Your Mother: A Memoir by Erika J. Simpson (Scribner) 

“This finalist list honors the diversity and vibrancy of the literary world, recognizing both acclaimed and debut authors for creating deeply rewarding reading experiences,” said Chautauqua’s Interim Michael I. Rudell Director of Literary Arts Stephine Hunt. The 2026 finalists for The Chautauqua Prize were selected from a longlist of entries read and reviewed by 141 volunteer Chautauquans who are writers, publishers, educators, editors, librarians and avid readers. This year boasted an independent prize jury including award-winning writers Oliver de la Paz, Glory Edim, Jillian Hanesworth and Kao Kalia Yang as guest judges.  

Awarded annually since 2012, the Prize draws upon Chautauqua Institution’s considerable literary legacy to celebrate a book that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and to honor the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts. The winning book will be selected from these finalists and announced in early June.   

Longlisted for the Booker Prize and an NPR and Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2025, Natasha Brown’s remarkable novel Universality is a “fresh, witty” story about a young, ambitious journalist in England investigating a death that occurs at an illegal rave amid the flurry of the Brexit decision and the COVID-19 pandemic. Readers described it as “trendy,” “punchy” and “fast-paced.” They also praised the novel for its impactful use and exploration of language. “Brown’s love of language drives this story,” one reader said. Another noted that the work “deftly tackles larger conversations about wealth, race, class and power, as well as the intricacies of the universal and particular uses and meanings of words we use each day.”  

Susan Choi’s monumental novel Flashlight spans decades and continents in a “deep excavation of memory, family” and the ways in which we are shaped by what we cannot see. It was named a finalist for the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction and longlisted for the National Book Award and the Andrew Carnegie Medal. Readers called the novel “masterful and meticulous,” appreciating both the narrative and genre shifts as well as the “danger and intrigue” woven throughout the book. Ultimately, readers declared Flashlight a “beautifully written” novel of “compelling, strong voices” about the “power imbued within the structures and systems around us, but more importantly, the power within us all.”  

The engrossing and genre-bending novel O Sinners! by Nicole Cuffy cleverly blends cultish intrigue and suspense, cinematic portrayals of life sweeping from present-day California to the Vietnam War and back and astute commentary on the world as seen through social media, particularly Instagram. It was named a finalist for the Westport Prize for Literature, a Time Best Book of the Year and one of the season’s Most Anticipated Books by Time, Rolling Stone, Vulture, Men’s Health, WNYC, Electric Lit, Feminist Book Club and Lit Hub. Readers called the book “provocative,” “unsettling” and “compelling,” as they celebrated both the unique, challenging craft of the story and the impact of following a grieving young man who is drawn into the orbit of a charismatic cult leader. 

Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis is a “humorous” and “poignant” coming-of-middle-age debut novel about an Akwesasne Mohawk man’s hunger for intimacy, healing and a second chance. Readers called the novel “beautiful and intimate,” “stunning,” “riveting” and “a book of daring genius and passionate insight.” One reader declared, “this is a novel that speaks to our heart and sings to our soul.” Old School Indian was longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award, was named a Buzzfeed Best Book of the Year and is a national bestseller.  

In a stunning work of nonfiction braiding together poetry, essay and memoir, Mohammed El-Kurd addresses Palestine as a microcosm of the world, masterfully combining candid testimony, linguistics, history and reportage. Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal is the 2025 Palestine Book Award Winner, a New York Times bestseller, a National Indie bestseller and a USA Today bestseller. Readers lauded the book as “compelling, emotionally transparent and intellectually rigorous.” One reader proclaimed that it is “perhaps one of the most insightful, crucial and necessary books I have read.” 

Readers called Wally Lamb’s propulsive novel The River is Waiting “emotionally devastating,” “unforgettable” and “an honest and challenging gut-punch of a read.” It is a “rich character study” about a young, incarcerated father grappling with unbearable tragedy as he searches for hope, redemption and the possibility of forgiveness within himself and the complex American carceral system. The River is Waiting was a 2025 Oprah’s Book Club Pick, an instant New York Times bestseller and a USA Today bestseller. 

In her debut memoir, Erika J. Simpson shares a mother-daughter relationship that grapples with loss, separation, illness, complicated family relations, stereotypes of single black mothers, identity and poverty. This is Your Mother was named a Best Memoir of 2025 (So Far) by BookPage and Real Simple. Readers dubbed the book an “authentically human story,” “tremendously moving” and “carefully crafted in fascinating, nonlinear form.” At the center of this memoir is a moving and beautifully rendered depiction of the author’s “complicated love for her complicated mother.” 

ABOUT THE CHAUTAUQUA PRIZE   

Awarded annually since 2012, The Chautauqua Prize draws upon Chautauqua Institution’s considerable literary legacy to celebrate a book that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and to honor the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts. The author of the winning book will receive $7,500 and will participate in a Prize ceremony and reading on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution during the 2026 Summer Season. For more information, visit prize.chq.org.    

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA LITERARY ARTS   

With a history steeped in the literary arts, Chautauqua Institution is the home of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, founded in 1878, which honors at least nine outstanding books of fiction, nonfiction, essays and poetry with community discussions and author presentations every summer. Further literary arts programs at Chautauqua include the summer-long workshops, craft lectures and readings from some of the very best author-educators in North America at the Chautauqua Writers’ Center. Chautauqua Literary Arts is led by the Michael I. Rudell Director of the Literary Arts, an endowed chair established in memory of a beloved Chautauquan who, among other things, inspired Chautauqua’s first literary award, The Chautauqua Prize.  

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION   
Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer — and year-round through the CHQ Assembly online platform — with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue.   

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