New Novel by Colorado State University Professor Ramona Ausubel Receives National Book Foundation Award

Ramona Ausubel, associate professor of creative writing at Colorado State University, has been named a co-recipient of the 2025 Science + Literature Award from the National Book Foundation for her novel, The Last Animal (Riverhead Books, 2024).

In partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the annual award is presented to three books that deepen readers’ understanding of science and technology with a focus on work that highlights diversity in scientific writing. Authors Claire Wahmanholm and Ed Yong were this year’s other two recipients.

In addition to her latest book, Professor Ausubel is the author of two other novels and two short story collections. Her first novel, No One Is Here Except All of Us (Riverhead Books, 2012), won the PEN/USA Fiction Award and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Professor Asubel has previously taught at Tin House, The Bread Loaf Environmental Writers Conference, The Community of Writers, Writing by Writers, and the low-residency MFA programs at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Professor Ausubel holds a master of fine arts degree from the University of California, Irvine.