Judge Kiese Laymon has selected “Black (in) Time,” by John Murillo III, as the winner of Indiana Review’s inaugural Nonfiction Prize! Murillo’s piece will appear in the 2015 Winter issue of Indiana Review. We received hundreds of submissions of outstanding quality and variety. All work was read anonymously and closely by our editors. Thanks to all who submitted their work for consideration and made this year’s 2015 Nonfiction Prize possible.

2015 Indiana Review Nonfiction Prize Winner:

“Black (in) Time”

John Murillo III

Laymon has this to say about the winning piece: “I’ve never read an essay that so courageously and really out of necessity blended the mystery, ruthless joy and temporality of black life in this country. The piece moves in and out of music, dramatic scene, playwriting and buoyant social critique not effortlessly, but so, so effectively. It’s one of the most amazing pieces of prose I’ve read in the 21st century.

Congratulations also to our finalists, all of whom submitted excellent nonfiction for consideration in our inaugural nonfiction contest that made the final call a close and difficult one.

Nonfiction Prize Finalists:

Kendra Atleework, “Santa Cruz Blur”

Meilan Carter-Gilkey, “Carnival”

Chris Emslie, “Suffer Us to Famish”

Sari Fordham, “The Foreign Government Dances Back and Forth”

Hafeez Lakhani, “Big Enough”

Maurine Ogbaa, “Something Between Us”

Aaron Orbey, “Boy Problems”

Adrienne Perry, “A Dark and Simple Place”

Abel Shifferaw, “Untitled (Oscar, or Me, or Us)”

Don Stoll, “The Aspect of an Unknown Planet”

Jordan Thomas, “The Murder of Crows”