Teju Cole wins $10,000 prize for first novel

Author Teju Cole has won this year's Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for a "distinguished" first book of fiction.

PEN New England, a regional branch of the international writers organization, and the Hemingway Foundation announced Tuesday that Cole, 36, would receive $10,000 for "Open City." Cole's story of a Nigerian doctor's physical and spiritual journey also is a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award. The author grew up in Nigeria and currently lives in New York City.

Source: Associated Press