2013 Thurber Prize Finalists Announced

Posted on August 31, 2013

The finalists for the Thurber Prize for American Humor have been announced. They are: Shalom Auslander for Hope, A Tragedy (Riverhead), Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel for Lunatics: A Novel (G.P.Putnam's Sons) and Dan Zevin for Dan Gets a Mini-Van: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad (Scribner).

The Thurber Prize was first awarded in 1997: it is the only recognition of the art of humor writing in the United States, which seems a shame. Books eligible for the 2013 prize were written in 2012. The winner will be announced on September 30, 2013, at a ceremony at Caroline's Comedy Club on Broadway in New York City. The winner receives $5,000 and a commemorative plaque. The winner is also a guest at an event in Columbus, Ohio which takes place the next year.

This year's judges are author Lisa Birnbach (The Official Preppy Handbook, True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World), Laurie Notaro (former Thurber finalist and author of The Potty Mouth at the Table) and Nate DiMeo (former Thurber finalist and author of Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America. Past winners of the Thurber Prize include Calvin Trillin and David Sedaris.