2020

Out of Darkness, Shining Light Wins 2020 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is proud to announce Petina Gappah’s Out of Darkness, Shining Light(Scribner) as the 2020 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

As author of the winning book, Gappah receives $7,500,and will be presented with the Prize — and give a public reading — duringa celebratory event at a date to be determined as part of Chautauqua Institution’s online assembly season this summer.

Gappah’s powerful novel of exploration and adventure in 19th-century Africa, Out of Darkness, Shining Light is a captivating story of those who carried explorer and missionary Dr. David Livingstone’s body across the continent of Africa, so his remains could be returned home to England. “Rather than repeating the usual legend of the Livingstone expedition, Gappah reinvents the story to reveal the tyranny and complexity of colonial power,” one reader wrote, and the author’s “inspired treatment and graceful prose breathes life into her riveting account.” Another called the work a “Homer-esque, cross-cultural mini-epic; … the odyssey itself is a pleasure in prose.”

Gappah said she was “delighted” to accept the 2020 Chautauqua Prize:

“My primary identity is that of a reader, so it is wonderful to receive an award that is given to books that offer a ‘richly rewarding reading experience,’” Gappah said. “I am grateful that through the power of this award, Livingstone’s companions will now travel to readers who might otherwise not have heard of them. Thank you so much to Chautauqua Institution for this honor, but most of all, thank you for your abiding belief in the power of literature.”

Press Kit:
Full press release | Book Cover | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

The Chautauqua Prize 2020 Finalists

Chautauqua Institution is pleased to announce seven exceptional books as the 2020 finalists for The Chautauqua Prize, now in its ninth year:

2019

All the Names They Used for God Wins 2019 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce Anjali Sachdeva’s All the Names They Used for God: Stories (Spiegel & Grau) as the 2019 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

As author of the winning book, Sachdeva receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a summer residency at Chautauqua from Aug. 12 to 16, 2019. A public reading will take place at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16, in the Hall of Philosophy on the Institution’s grounds.

Sachdeva said she was “incredibly grateful for all Chautauqua Institution has done to celebrate the arts and their potential to enrich our lives. To me, the Prize represents not only an amazing honor, but key support that will help me to continue writing.”

Chautauqua Institution President Michael E. Hill said awarding the Prize to Sachdeva’s book highlights the role of Chautauqua in fostering and celebrating both established and developing voices in the literary arts.

Press Kit:
Full press release | Book Cover | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

The Chautauqua Prize 2019 Finalists

Chautauqua Institution is pleased to announce seven exceptional books as the 2019 finalists for The Chautauqua Prize, now in its eighth year:

2018

The Fact of A Body Wins 2018 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir (Flatiron Books), by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, as the 2018 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

As author of the winning book, Marzano-Lesnevich receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a summer residency at Chautauqua from Aug. 1 to 6, 2018. A public reading will take place at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, in the Hall of Philosophy on the Institution's grounds.

Marzano-Lesnevich said she was honored to receive The Chautauqua Prize, and "that the award comes from an institution with such a long history of creating space for rigorous, rewarding interdisciplinary and cross-genre dialogue makes it particularly meaningful at this moment in our national history, with our urgent need for socially engaged art."

"I very much look forward to attending the Institution this summer, and to all the rich conversations that will unfold there," Marzano-Lesnevich said.

Press Kit:
Full press release | Book Cover | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

The Chautauqua Prize 2018 Finalists

2017

The Fortunes wins 2017 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce The Fortunes (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Peter Ho Davies as the 2017 winner of The Chautauqua Prize. 

As author of the winning book, Davies receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for himself and his family for a one-week summer residency at Chautauqua from July 8 to 15, 2017.  A public reading will take place at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, 2017 in the Hall of Philosophy.

Davies said he first came across the term “Chautauqua” as a college student reading Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in a class on the philosophy of science. 

“In a rare case of a jacket blurb coming true it really did ‘change my life.’ I was a physics major, at the time, with mostly suppressed literary ambitions but Pirsig's passionate fusion of the literary and scientific, of feeling and thought, was one of the things that inspired me to return to writing,” Davies said. "It means a lot to me all these years later, and shortly after Pirsig's death, to win The Chautauqua Prize. … I'm so honored and heartened by this award, honored to become a part of Chautauqua's long literary tradition, and heartened that a book about the struggles of Chinese immigrants resonates with contemporary readers."

Press Kit:
Full press release | Book Cover | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

The Chautauqua Prize 2017 Finalists

Press Kit:
Full press release | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

2016

Off the Radar wins 2016 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce Off the Radar: A Father’s Secret, a Mother’s Heroism, and a Son’s Quest (Blue Rider Press) by Cyrus Copeland as the 2016 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

As author of the winning book, Copeland receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for himself and his family for a one-week summer residency at Chautauqua from Aug. 7 to 13, 2016. He will host a public reading and book signing at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 10, in the Hall of Philosophy.

Copeland received news of the Prize while abroad, preparing to embark on the Camino de Santiago which, he said, “makes this the first time a blessing was delivered before a pilgrimage.”

"I'm grateful to the book lovers and tastemakers at Chautauqua,” Copeland said, “and humbled to be in the company of other great authors.”

Press Kit:
Full press release | Book Cover | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

The Chautauqua Prize 2016 Finalists

Press Kit:
Full press release | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

2015

Redeployment wins 2015 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce Redeployment (The Penguin Press) by Phil Klay as the 2015 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

As author of the winning book, Klay receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for himself and his wife for a one-week summer residency at Chautauqua. He will host a public reading and a book signing on Saturday, July 25, at the Hall of Philosophy.

While his Week Four residency will be the first time Klay visits Chautauqua, he said he has fond memories of childhood trips to Lakeside Chautauqua, an Ohio community that is part of the Chautauqua Trail.

“I’m thrilled to come to the original Chautauqua,” Klay said. “I’m incredibly honored by this, and looking forward to meeting folks there.”

A July 25 public reading of the Chautauqua Prize winner Redeployment by Phil Klay will be held at 1:30 in the Hall of Philosophy.

Press Kit:
Full press release | Book Cover | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

The Chautauqua Prize 2015 Finalists

Press Kit:
Full press release | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

2014

My Foreign Cities wins 2014 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce “My Foreign Cities” (Liveright) by Elizabeth Scarboro as the 2014 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

As author of the winning book, Scarboro receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a one-week summer residency at Chautauqua. She will host a public reading and book signing at a date to be determined this summer on the Institution grounds.  

“I’m deeply honored to have a small part in Chautauqua’s long, vibrant tradition of education in the arts, and I'm thrilled to get the chance to visit the Chautauqua community,” said Scarboro, who has also written two novels for children and essays for The New York Times and the Bellevue Literary Review. “The prize will give me the chance to begin new work, and will bring recognition to the subject of my book — those who face illness and loss at a young age. I’m so grateful for both.”

Press Kit:
Full press release | My Foreign Cities cover image | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf) 

The Chautauqua Prize 2014 Finalists

Press Kit:
Full press release | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

2013

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher wins 2013 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Timothy Egan as the 2013 winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

As author of the winning book, Egan received $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a brief residency at Chautauqua, a not-for-profit educational and cultural center in southwestern New York state. He hosted a public reading and book signing on Wednesday, July 10, on the Institution grounds.

"Given the history of Chautauqua, and its role as a summer retreat for lovers of history, art, brisk argument and the written word, I couldn't be more thrilled to be a small part of this," said Egan, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for The New York Times and the best-selling author of six books. "You've helped to give the subject of my book, the American Indian photographer Edward Curtis, a bit of a renaissance."

Now beginning its third year, The Chautauqua Prize is a national prize that celebrates a book of fiction or literary/narrative nonfiction that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and honors the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts.

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher is a nonfiction account of Edward Curtis' early-20th-century quest to document the lives of 80 American Indian tribes. Chautauqua Prize reviewers described the book as "compelling" and "exhaustive," and noted that Egan, who won the 2006 National Book Award for The Worst Hard Time, "captures in language what Curtis expresses in photography."

Press Kit:
Full press release | Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher cover image | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

The Chautauqua Prize 2013 Finalists

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk Ben Fountain Ecco	The Presidents Club Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy Simon & Schuster	Devil in the Grove Gilbert King Harper	The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller Ecco	The Name of Things John Colman Wood Ashland Creek Press

2012

The Sojourn wins 2012 Chautauqua Prize

Chautauqua Institution is pleased to announce The Sojourn (Bellevue Literary Press) by Andrew Krivak as the first-ever winner of The Chautauqua Prize.

The Chautauqua Prize is a new national prize that celebrates a book of fiction or literary/narrative nonfiction that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and honors the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts.

"I feel honored to be part of this new tradition at Chautauqua Institution, and to be recognized by a place with such a long-standing commitment to art and literature in America," Krivak said.

As author of the winning book, Krivak received $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a one-week summer residency at Chautauqua, a not-for-profit educational and cultural center in southwestern New York state.

Press Kit: Full press release | The Sojourn cover image | The Chautauqua Prize logo (pdf)

The Chautauqua Prize 2012 Shortlist

Caleb's Crossing Geraldine Brooks Viking	In The Garden of Beasts Erik Larson Crown	Why Read Moby-Dick? Nathaniel Philbrick Viking	All Cry Chaos Leonard Rosen The Permanent Press	We Are Taking Only What We Need Stephanie Powell Watts BkMk Press