Fall for the Book and the IIR host 2025 New American Voices Award

On Thursday, October 9, 2025, Fall for the Book and the Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) will host the 8th Annual IIR New American Voices Award.

Thursday, October 9, 2025 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM EDT
Center for the Arts, Grand Tier III

Olufunke Grace Bankole’s The Edge of Water, Cristina Jiménez’s Dreaming of Home: How We Turn Fear into Pride, Power, and Real Change, and Shubha Sunder’s Optional Practical Training: A Novel have have been named finalists for the Institute for Immigration Research New American Voices Award. Celebrating its 8th anniversary, this post-publication award recognizes recently published works that illuminate the complexity of human experience as told by immigrants, whose work is historically underrepresented in writing and publishing. This year’s book prize was judged by Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Brando Skyhorse, and Mary-Alice Daniel. 

The winner will be announced this fall, and all three finalists will join the judges for an award ceremony and reading to discuss their work. The event will be hosted by Fall for the Book on Thursday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m. at George Mason University’s Fairfax, VA Campus.

For more details about how to become a judge, or to see past NAV Award winners, click here or visit the Fall for the Book webpage here.

RSVP here!