The Kansas City Public Library wants your nominations for the 2012 ‘Publitzer’ Prize for Fiction

The Pulitzer Prize Board didn’t give an award for fiction this year. In light of the snub, the Kansas City Public Library has stepped up and is asking for nominations for its first ever “Publitzer” Prize for Fiction.

Library Director Crosby Kemper III explains the Publitzer in the video above, but here’s how it works: You nominate your favorite pieces of fiction published in the United States in 2011 (click here to nominate). The library’s esteemed panel of jurors – including Pitch editor Scott Wilson, The Kansas City Star‘s Steve Paul, the Library’s Director of Readers’ Services Kaite Stover and author Whitney Terrell – make their nominations. It’ll be boiled down to three finalists, which will be announced on the library’s blog Monday, April 30. And then the voting begins, culminating with the first ever Publitzer being awarded.