Ben Fountain Wins 2012 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize

Posted on December 18, 2012

The Center for Fiction has announced Ben Fountain as the winner of the 2012 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. Fountain won the prize for his novel, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, which was published by Ecco. The novel was also shortlisted for the National Book Award this year.

Fountain's novel is described as a novel about "the American war in Iraq, football, cheerleaders, the movie business, capitalism, love, sex, the transmigration of souls, and the general insanity of everyday life in America."

The annual Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize includes a $10,000 cash award. It is made possible by the support of writer Nancy Dunnan, a board member of The Center for Fiction. The prize honors Nancy Dunnan's late father, Ray Flaherty, an Iowa journalist who graduated from the University of Iowa, the home of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. The short list and winner are selected by a committee of American writers. This year's jury members include Francisco Goldman, Lev Grossman, Heidi Julavits, Paul La Farge, and Bonnie Nadzam.