Tayari Jones, the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University in Atlanta, has received the 2026 Kirkus Prize for Fiction for her new novel Kin (Alfred A. Knopf, 2026). Given annually by Kirkus Reviews, the Kirkus Prizes honor works of exceptional merit in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature. Winners receive a trophy and a $50,000 cash prize.
Set in rural Louisiana and Atlanta during the mid-twentieth century, Kin explores the relationship between Annie and Nancy, two motherless friends whose lifelong bond is tested by time, geography, and class shifts. The book is Professor Jones’ fifth novel and sixth published book. Her other publications include Leaving Atlanta (Warner Books, 2002), winner of the 2003 Hurston/Wright Award for Debut Fiction, and An American Marriage (Algonquin Books, 2018), winner of both the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Fiction.
Professor Jones has been an Emory faculty member since 2018. During the 2017–2018 academic year, she was the Shearing Fellow for Distinguished Writers at the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In 2019, she was named an Andrew Dickinson White Professor-at-large at Cornell University. Previously, she served as a founding member of the MFA program in creative writing at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Throughout her career, Professor Jones has received numerous awards for her literary achievements, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
An alumna of Spelman College in Atlanta, Professor Jones holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Iowa and a master of fine arts degree in fiction from Arizona State University.