A luminous debut of timely, vibrant stories, There’s Nothing Left for You Here by Allegra Solomon is the winner of the 2023 Kimbilio National Fiction Prize, an honor that celebrates excellence in contemporary fiction from writers of the African diaspora. Ranging in subject but joined by their keen attention to the lives of contemporary young women of color, these stories feature an eclectic cast of characters who are as fascinatingly complex as they are deeply relatable. In these pages, a heartbroken young woman named Salem starts over with her estranged best friend from college (Maida) and moves to LA, where she meets and becomes entangled with Theo, Maida’s mysterious wealthy benefactor; teens Nikita and Alexandria bind together to navigate the adolescent politics of high school and female friendship as the only two Black girls at their school;  and Ciara, a bookstore employee, agrees to house-sit for a white coworker named Angelina she hardly knows, only for Angelina to disappear with no notice and leave Ciara looking after her apartment and dog. In the words of Kimbilio Prize judge Deesha Philyaw, readers should prepare to find “these fresh, moody, unconventional stories…irresistible.”
 

Allegra Solomon was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. She got her MFA from the University of Kentucky and her B.A. in Creative Writing from Ohio University. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and has appeared in The Georgia Review, American Literary Review, New Ohio Review, Lolwe, The Account, and more. In 2023, There’s Nothing Left For You Here won the Kimbilio National Fiction Prize. This is her first book.