3 Writers’ Workshop grads on longlist for National Book Award

Three University of Iowa Writers' Workshop graduates are on the longlist of candidates for the 2015 National Book Award in Fiction.

'Refund,” by Karen Bender, 'The Turner House,” by Angela Flournoy and 'Welcome to Braggsville,” by T. Geronimo Johnson were among ten books on the list announced Thursday.

Bender is the author of the story collection, 'Refund,” and two novels, 'A Town of Empty Rooms,” and 'Like Normal People.” She has won two Pushcart prizes and grants from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and lives in North Carolina.

In their citation, the award judges observed these are, 'stories that deeply explore the ways in which money and the estimation of value affect the lives of her characters. The stories in Refund reflect our contemporary world-swindlers, reality show creators, desperate artists, siblings, parents - who try to answer the question: What is the real definition of worth?”

Angela Flournoy is a 2011 graduate of the Writers' Workshop and has taught writing at the UI and Trinity Washington University. Her novel, 'The Turner House,” is her fiction debut.

In their citation, the judges wrote the book is, 'a major new contribution to the story of the American family ... The Turner House brings us a colorful, complicated brood full of love and pride, sacrifice and unlikely inheritances. It's a striking examination of the price we pay for our dreams and futures, and the ways in which our families bring us home.”

'Welcome to Braggsville” is PEN/Faulkner finalist T. Geronimo Johnson's second book, after the critically-acclaimed novel, 'Hold it ‘Til it Hurts.” A recent graduate of the Workshop, Johnson also taught as a visiting faculty member in 2014-2015. he lives in Berkeley, California, and teaches writing at University of California-Berkeley. The National Book Award judges described 'Welcome to Braggsville” as 'a dark and socially provocative southern-fried comedy ... a fierce, funny, tragic work from a bold new writer.”

Publishers submitted a total of 419 books for the award, which were narrowed down by five judges to create the longlist. Finalists will be announced Oct. 14, and the winner will be revealed at a ceremony in New York City Nov. 18.