Slate and the Whiting Foundation Team Up to Honor Second Novels

Publishers Lunch

Slate and the Whiting Foundation have teamed up for the Slate/Whiting Second Novel List (which they are also calling "We Second That"). While more of an organized promotional campaign than an award per se -- "akin to being retweeted by your literary idol, or finding out that the classmate you have a crush on thinks you’re cute" -- the idea is to recognize five second novels published over the past five years "whose first trips through the literary-pressdustrial complex may not have been all the authors hoped for." It was inspired by a tweet by Porochista Khakpour last June ("Can someone please create some prizes and lists for SECOND novels?! Trust me when I say we sophomores need more help than the freshman").

The preliminary list will be voted on by past winners of the Whiting Awards, and then pared down to a final list of five on November 19 (the same day the National Book Awards will be announced), with essays to follow from judges Yiyun Li, Colson Whitehead, Slate culture editor Dan Kois, New Yorker.com literary editor Sasha Weiss, and McNally Jackson owner Sarah McNally throughout December.