Mark Z. Danielewski Announced as the Winner of The New York Public Library’s First Young Lions Fiction Award for House of Leaves

New York, April 24, 2001 -- In a ceremony held at The New York Public Library last evening, Library President Paul LeClerc announced that author Mark Z. Danielewski is the winner of the first Young Lions Fiction Award for his novel, House of Leaves (Pantheon Books). The $10,000 prize honors a novel or collection of short stories published within the calendar year by an American author age 35 or younger. The award was established by the Young Lions, a membership group for supporters of the Library in their 20s and 30s. The prize was spearheaded by committee members Rick Moody, Ethan Hawke, and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, and will be awarded each spring.

"Mark Danielewski’s House of Leaves was selected by the judges as the winner of the Young Lions Fiction Award because they admired the experimental nature of the work, the multi-layered narrative voices that were brought together into a single aesthetic whole, and the major risks the author took in breaking with literary patterns of the past," said Paul LeClerc, in presenting the award to Mr. Danielewski. "However, all the finalists have created exceptional works — and as the readings here tonight indicate, glorious text — which made the decision to choose a single award winner difficult."

Mr. Danielewski was selected from six finalists to receive the Young Lions Fiction Award. In addition to Mr. Danielewski, the finalists were: David Ebershoff (The Danish Girl), Myla Goldberg (Bee Season), Heidi Julavits (The Mineral Palace), Akhil Sharma (An Obedient Father), and Darin Strauss (Chang and Eng). The Young Lions Fiction Award finalists were selected by a Reading Committee made up of 12 Young Lions, a Supervising Librarian from The New York Public Library’s Branch Libraries, and Rodney Phillips, Director of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library. The award judges were novelists Michael Chabon, Colm Tóibín, and A. M. Homes. List of nominees.

The ceremony, held in the Library’s Celeste Bartos Forum, featured actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman reading excerpts from the finalists’ works. Novelist Rick Moody (The Ice Storm, Demonology) and literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, both Young Lions, introduced the writers and their work. "The early part of a writer’s career is the hardest — a time of struggle and bad day jobs, when a writer sometimes questions whether his or her ambition to reach readers or the culture at large will ever be realized," said Mr. Moody. "We created this award to give something back to our peers, to provide ratification and understanding of those artists who undertake this task. The imprimatur of The New York Public Library will ensure that this award will do a lot of good."

Mr. Danielewski, 35, currently lives in Los Angeles, and created House of Leaves, his first novel, over a 10-year period. Called "one of the most ambitious, complicated and eagerly anticipated literary debuts of the year" by Newsweek magazine, the novel explores the origins of fear in the intertwining narratives of Zampano, a blind old man who leaves behind a strange manuscript critiquing a documentary of a haunted house, and Johnny Truant, the tome’s discoverer and narrator of House of Leaves. House of Leaves was originally passed around as a bundle of papers or read over the Internet, and has its second life as a published work. The book is printed in half a dozen typefaces, and with footnotes, an index, and graphics — what the Wall Street Journal called "typographical mischief designed to intensify the power" of this "engrossing novel."

"To be chosen to win this award in the company of such formidable talents takes my breath away," said Mark Danielewski, in accepting the Young Lions Fiction Award. "The first book I ever read was E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, but the book wasn’t bought or given to me. My mother took me by the hand and introduced me to The New York Public Library, and told me I could have the book for a while and return it and get more books. The early impression of wandering in this great palace of thought has not dimmed, and it is an incredible honor to be back here."

Nominations for the 2001 Young Lions Literary Award are now being accepted. Award nomination guidelines and entry forms are available form the Library’s website or from Hannah Griswold at 212.930.0877. Submissions for books published in 2001 will be accepted through August 6, 2002.

For an annual contribution of $300, Young Lions members are invited to special group program as well as to lectures, VIP exhibition openings, and behind-the-scenes tours. For more information on the Young Lions and upcoming events, please call 212.930.0877, or visit the Young Lions.

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Press Contact: Herb Scher 212.704.8600

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