NORTH SUN Longlisted for Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize

Brooklyn, NY— Ethan Rutherford’s debut novel North Sun, published through Deep Vellum’s imprint A Strange Object, has been longlisted for The Center for Fiction 2025 First Novel Prize.

North Sun is the first novel written by Ethan Rutherford. His previous works include The Peripatetic Coffin: And Other Stories (Ecco, 2013), Winner of the Minnesota Book Award and Finalist for the LA Times Book Prize, and Farthest South & Other Stories (Deep Vellum / A Strange Object, 2021). North Sun, which follows the crew aboard the whaleship Esther in 1878 as they sail the Pacific Ocean, was met with immediate praise upon its release. Earning starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Independent Book Review, North Sun is “...a classically styled novel that sounds a very contemporary alarm” (Kirkus Reviews), exploring the cost of environmental exploitation and predation. The novel "[chronicles] in brisk and poetic prose [the crew’s] numerous travails, needless deaths, and hidden perversions…” (Publishers Weekly) all while illuminating Rutherford’s masterful ability to write about the darkest sides of human nature as he “plumbs the depths men will sink to in extracting what they desire from nature and their fellow man."

The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, inaugurated in 2006, honors the best debut novel of the year and supports emerging voices in fiction. Each year, the winning author receives a $15,000 prize in recognition of their contribution to contemporary literature and in support of their ongoing creative career. Past winners of the Prize include Marisha Pessl, Junot Díaz, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Tommy Orange, Raven Leilani, and De’Shawn Charles Winslow. In the fall, the judging panel of four distinguished authors will determine the 2025 First Novel Prize Shortlist. Each shortlisted author will receive a $1,000 award.

Deep Vellum is a nonprofit publishing house and literary arts organization with the mission to bring the world into conversation through literature. Founded in 2013 in Dallas, TX, Deep Vellum has expanded to encompass six distinct publishing imprints and is now the largest publisher of translated literature in the United States.

North Sun was in the U.S. on March 11th, 2025. It is available to order from Deep Vellum, Bookshop.org, or your local independent bookstore.