Ferrer wins 2026 New American Voices Award

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ada Ferrer received the ninth annual Institute for Immigration Research New American Voices Award for her memoir, Keeper of My Kin: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter, at the Fall for the Book Festival at George Mason University on October 8.

Ferrer received a $5,000 prize in recognition of her work, which explores the experiences of immigration, family separation, and the challenges of starting over.

"The New American Voices Award is a very special prize," Ferrer said. "Especially in a moment such as this, it is important to share immigrant stories as part of the fabric of American life. I am moved and honored to be this year's recipient."

Established in 2018 by Fall for the Book and the Institute for Immigration Research, the award recognizes recently published works by immigrants and first-generation writers whose voices have historically been underrepresented in literature and publishing.

The award's two other finalists, Bindu Bansinath, author of the novel Men Like Ours, and Chantel Acevedo, author of the novel Cages, each received $1,000.

The winner and the finalists each read excerpts from their books and discussed their work during the event.

Judges Angie Cruz, Donna Hemans, and Weike Wang praised Ferrer's memoir for its portrayal of immigration and the emotional struggles experienced by families separated by political and historical upheaval.

"Through vivid imagery and a scrapbook-like accumulation of letters, documents, and family stories, Ferrer gives a human face to histories too often reduced to politics, sanctions, and humanitarian crises," the judges wrote.

The judges also highlighted the memoir's exploration of maternal relationships, family separation, and the difficult choices faced by immigrants.

Ferrer is the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History at Princeton University. Before joining Princeton, she taught at New York University from 1995 to 2024. Her previous book, Cuba: An American History, won the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in history and was a finalist for the Cundill History Prize.

Previous recipients of the New American Voices Award include Hernan Diaz, Patricia Engel, and Rachel Heng.

Fall for the Book is Northern Virginia's oldest and largest festival of literature and the arts. All events are free and open to the public thanks to the generous support of sponsors including George Mason University, the City of Fairfax, ArtsFairfax, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

The Institute for Immigration Research is at the forefront of immigration research, producing high-quality, timely research and analysis that examines the economic contributions of immigrants in the United States.