Wednesday, March 21, 2002 -- New York Public Library President Paul LeClerc (left in the photo) announced at a ceremony last night that Colson Whitehead was the winner of this year's New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award for his novel John Henry Days. The widely praised book draws parallels between the Industrial Age and the publicity-driven Digital Age by juxtaposing the legend of the black laborer John Henry, against the life of a freelance Internet journalist. A Time magazine review called the book, " a narrative tour de force that astonishes on almost every page."

The $10,000 Fiction Award 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.

"Colson Whitehead's John Henry Days is remarkable in its scope, its ambition, its seriousness, and its wonderfully intelligent and varied writing," said Dr. LeClerc in announcing the award. "This work of fiction is difficult, disconcerting, discomforting, upsetting and, in the end, glorious in its symphonic array of brilliant set pieces."

Mr. Whitehead was selected from five finalists to receive the Young Lions Fiction Award. The others were David Czuchlewsi (The Muse Asylum), Allegra Goodman (Paradise Park), Peter Orner (Esther Stories), and Brady Udall (The Miracle LIfe of Edgar Mint).

The ceremony, held in the Library's Celeste Bartos Forum, featured actors Ethan Hawke and Kyra Sedgwick reading excerpts from the finalists' works. Writer Rick Moody (The Ice Storm, Demonology) spoke about the challenges facing aspiring writers, and literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh introduced the writers and their work.

In accepting his award, Colson Whitehead thanked his mother, his wife, and his editor and also acknowledged the role of libraries in his work, taking advantage of the opportunity to jokingly request amnesty for some of the overdue books still in his possession which he used to research John Henry Days. Whitehead's first novel was The Intuitionist which won the Quality

Paperback Book Club's New Voices Award for 1999 and was an Ernest Hemingway/PEN Award for First Fiction finalist in 1999. John Henry Days was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Whitehead is also the recipient of a 2000 Whiting Writers' Award. The author lives in Brooklyn, New York.

The Young Lions Fiction Award nominees were selected by a Reading Committee of Young Lions members, writers, and librarians, including Rodney Phillips, Director of The New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Nominations for the 2003 award are now being accepted. Award nomination guidelines and entry forms are available from the Library's web site or by calling 212-930-0877. Submissions for books published in 2002 will be accepted through July 1, 2002.

For an annual contribution of $300, Young Lions members are invited to special events created for the group by the Young Lions Committee. Programs include panels, lectures, VIP exhibition openings, behind-the-scenes tours and the Young Lions Fiction Award. For more information on the Young Lions and upcoming events, please call 212-930-0670 or check the Library's web site.

This press release may be downloaded from the Library's web site at www.nypl.org/press.

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Press Contact: 212-221-7676

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