Barnes & Noble has announced the winners of the 2008 Discover Great New Writers Awards. “The Well and the Mineby” by Gin Phillips won for fiction and “Beautiful Boy” by David Sheff won for nonfiction.
The winners each receive a $10,000 prize, along with promotion at Barnes & Noble stores. The 2008 fiction judges included past winners Kate Christensen, Suzanne Finnamore, and Mark Jude Poirier.
Christensen described Phillips’ novel: “The Well and the Mine” is an enthralling book, enthralling in the best way, without a whiff of showoffy pyrotechnics or earnest sentimentality. Like Willa Cather’s, Phillips’ language is deep, clear, strong, and true.”