This October, Fall for the Book and George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research will proudly present the ninth New American Voices Award, a prize recognizing the work of first-generation writers. From the many entries, judges Donna Hemans, Angie Cruz, and Weike Wang have put together a powerful longlist:

• Cages: A Novel by Chantel Acevedo
• Men Like Ours: A Novel by Bindu Bansinath
• Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You: A Novel by Julián Delgado Lopera
• Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter by Ada Ferrer
• Nadezhda in the Dark: A Novel in Verse by Yelena Moskovich
• Elected American: From Red China to Blue Maryland by Lily Qi
• People Who Live Alone Talk Too Much: Stories by Sofi Stambo

The three finalists will be announced later this summer and will join the judges in October at George Mason University’s Fairfax, VA, campus for an award ceremony, reading, and discussion of their work. Learn more here.

Suzy Rigdon is festival manager of Fall for the Book.