Read Women discussion

I followed a couple of links from an agency's Twitter feed promoting its AAPI authors (@JanklowNesbit) to its news page touting literary awards the authors it represents are in the running for and learned of a couple of new (to me, at least) prizes and awards to watch for new talent and applaud their achievements.

VCU Cabell First Novelist Award
Honors an outstanding debut novel published in the immediately preceding calendar year. The 10-novel shortlist was published May 2. Novels by women on the shortlist are:

Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng

A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton

Revival Season by Monica West

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

https://firstnovelist.vcu.edu/

2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize

"The Aspen Words Literary Prize is a $35,000 annual award for an influential work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue and demonstrates the transformative power of literature on thought and culture." This year's winner was announced April 21: Dawnie Walton for The Final Revival of Opal Nev: A Novel.

https://www.aspenwords.org/programs/l...

32nd Annual Reading the West Book Award

"The Reading the West Book Awards are sponsored and promoted by the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association. The awards honor the best fiction, non-fiction, and illustrated books for adults and children set in one of the states, or created by an author or artist living or working in the region." Public voting is open here https://readingthewest.com/32nd-annua...
Winners to be announced June 7.

https://readingthewest.com/about-the-...

2022 Wolfson History Prize (UK)

The UK's most prestigious history writng award, now in its 50th year. The shortlist of 6 titles is out, and the winner will be announced 22 June. Women authors shortlisted are:

Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688 by Clare Jackson (Allen Lane)
God: An Anatomy by Francesca Stavrakopoulou (Picador)

https://www.wolfsonhistoryprize.org.u...

2022 Whiting Award
Since 1985, Whiting Awards are given annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. The awards, of $50,000 each, are "based on early accomplishment and the promise of great work to come." 2022 women winners are: Claire Boyles (fiction), Rita Bullwinkel (fiction), Megha Majumdar (fiction), Nana Nkweti (fiction), Ina Carino (poetry), Anais Duplan (nonfiction), Alexis Pauline Gumbs (nonfiction), and Claire Schwartz (poetry).

https://www.whiting.org/writers/award...

The Rathbones Folio 2022 Prize

"The Rathbones Folio Prize is also known as the ‘writer’s prize’ – the only major literary award for which all the books in contention are selected and judged by an academy of peers. It is also the only prize to consider all works of literature, regardless of form." It's already been awarded for this year, and the short- and long- lists are displayed at this landing page. https://www.rathbonesfolioprize.com/

2022 Arts and Letters Awards in Literature by The American Academy of Arts and Letters

In March, the Academy awarded 16 prizes to authors. "The literature prizes, totaling over $200,000, honor both established and emerging writers of fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry. The Academy’s 300 members propose candidates, and a rotating committee of writers selects winners."

The 2022 women author recipients are:

Literature: Catherine Barnett, Jo Ann Beard, Aleshea Harris, Sarah Manguso, Joyelle McSweeney, Susan Brind Morrow
Benjamin Hadley Danks Award to an exceptional playwright: Martyna Majok
Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction to Jackie Polzin
Katherine Anne Porter Award
$20,000 to a prose writer whose achievements and dedication to the literary profession have been demonstrated: Lynne Tillman
Rosenthal Family Foundation Award -
$10,000 to a young writer of considerable literary talent for a work published in 2021: Kirstin Valdez Quade, for The Five Wounds
Thornton Wilder Prize for Translation: Edith Grossman
Morton Dauwen Zabel Award - $10,000 to a writer of progressive, original, and experimental tendencies: Patricia Lockwood

https://artsandletters.org/pressrelea...

If you encounter any interesting and (especially under-publicized) awards or prizes, or winners, feel free to share them in this thread.

Thanks so much for this Carol, lots to check out.

@Alwynne - you're very welcome. That was my takeaway.

Thanks to a friend in another group - because copying and pasting is the perfect amount of effort for me today - I'm pasting the 2022 Pulitzer winners' list below, with links inserted for women authors and their books.

Fiction
The Netanyahus, by Joshua Cohen (New York Review Books)

Finalists
Monkey Boy, by Francisco Goldman (Grove)
Palmares by Gayl Jones (Beacon Press)

History
Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America by Nicole Eustace (Liveright)

Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer (Scribner)

Finalists
Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction by Kate Masur(Norton)

Biography
Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South, by Winfred Rembert, as told to Erin I. Kelly (Bloomsbury)

Finalists
The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura (Norton)
Pessoa: A Biography, by Richard Zenith (Liveright)

Nonfiction
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott (Random House)

Finalists
Home, Land, Security: Deradicalization and the Journey Back From Extremism by Carla Power (One World)

The Family Roe: An American Story, by Joshua Prager (Norton)

Poetry
frank: sonnets by Diane Seuss (Graywolf)

Finalists
Yellow Rain: Poems by Mai Der Vang (Graywolf)
Refractive Africa, by Will Alexander (New Directions)

Drama
"Fat Ham," by James Ijames

Finalists
Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury
Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord by Kristina Wong

Oh, Canada!

The Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist was announced Sept 6 and includes the following authors and titles written by women authors:

Kim Fu for her short story collection, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, published by Coach House Books

Sheila Heti for her novel, Pure Colour, published by Knopf Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada

Suzette Mayr for her novel, The Sleeping Car Porter, published by Coach House Books

Noor Nagafor her novel, If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, published by Graywolf Press

Fawn Parker for her novel, What We Both Know, published by McClelland & Stewart, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada

Tsering Yangzom Lama for her novel, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies, published by McClelland & Stewart, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada

https://scotiabankgillerprize.ca/the-...

The shortlist will be announced September 27. The winner will be announced November 7. Have you read any of these titles and recommend them? Do you have an opinion on which author and novel should win?

I'm a big fan of the Giller and have read What We Both Know, which started strong but lost a bit of steam for me in the final third. It was still interesting enough for me to recommend, though.

I have two stories left to read in Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century. These are on the fantastical side, which sometimes isn't my thing, but I've really been enjoying this collection.

Susan wrote: "I'm a big fan of the Giller and have read What We Both Know, which started strong but lost a bit of steam for me in the final third. It was still interesting enough for me to recomm..."

I’m not usually a fantasy fan but Lesser Known Monsters appeals and I’m intrigued by If an Egyptian, as well. This is a great long list, from my perspective.

I have only read Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, and I really liked it. Would recommend and also think it would be a good group or book club read.

I've added The Sleeping Car Porter and We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies.

What We Both Know sounds interesting but also emotionally draining and I'm just not feeling that right now.

Our October read, Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer has made the 8-book shortlist for the 2022 Cundill History Prize. The finalists will be announced October 20, and the winner will be announced in December.

https://lithub.com/heres-the-shortlis...

In the meantime, women history authors on the shortlist along with Ferrer are:

Henrietta Harrison, The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of Two Translators Between Qing China and the British Empire

Tiya Miles, All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake

Mae M. Ngai, The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics

Mary Elise Sarotte (M E Sarotte on this list), Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate

If like me you're not familiar with the Cundill Prize:

A prize of US$75,000 is awarded annually to the book that embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal. The two runners-up each receive US$10,000.

Administered by McGill University in Montreal and awarded by a distinguished jury, the Cundill History Prize honours the abiding passion for history of its founder, F. Peter Cundill, by encouraging informed public debate through the wider dissemination of history writing to new audiences around the world.

Any historical period or subject is eligible, and translations into English are warmly welcomed. Books are accepted regardless of the nationality or place of residence of their authors.

It's a big day for nonfiction prize lists, apparently. The 12-book longlist for the UK's 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction has been announced. This prize goes to a book "that represent the best in nonfiction writing published in the UK in the last year."

https://lithub.com/heres-the-longlist...

and the women history authors on this longlist are:

Caroline Elkins, Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
The Bodley Head, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK
(American)

Andrea Elliott, Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
Hutchinson Heinemann, Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK
(American)

Daisy Hay, Dinner with Joseph Johnson: Books and Friendship in a Revolutionary Age
Chatto and Windus, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK
(British)

Sally Hayden, My Fourth Time, We Drowned Lib/E: Seeking Refuge on the World's Deadliest Migration Route
4th Estate, HarperCollins
(Irish)

Anna Keay, The Restless Republic: Britain without a Crown
William Collins, Harper Collins
(British)

Polly Morland, A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story
Picador, Pan Macmillan
(British)

Scholastique Mukasonga, tr. Jordan Stump, The Barefoot Woman
Daunt Originals, Daunt Books Publishing
(French/Rwandan)

Katherine Rundell, Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
Faber & Faber
(British)

Jing Tsu, Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern
Allen Lane, Penguin Press, Penguin Random House UK
(American)

My TBR is groaning with new weight, but I'm delighted to find several of these new (to me) titles.

The Cundill Prize sounds right up my alley for recs, thank you fir bringing it to my attention. The Baillie Gifford Prize looks like it has a few timely relevant reads worth checking out too. Thank you, as always Carol!

Anita wrote: "The Cundill Prize sounds right up my alley for recs, thank you fir bringing it to my attention. The Baillie Gifford Prize looks like it has a few timely relevant reads worth checking out too. Thank..."

Me, too. Plus, we’re watching Ken Burns’ documentary on the US and the Holocaust, and Mae Ngai is in it. She is a persuasive, no-nonsense expert and now I’m even more excited to read her book.

Thanks Carol, just commented on this in another group. Haven't read this one yet but Caroline Elkins is really impressive, as is Scholastique Mukasonga, found the Elliott a painful read but a fascinating account of what it is to be homeless and destitute and the impact on children in contemporary America - sadly not really better here either.

There's a new book award this year, and it comes with a 15,000 euro cash prize. The Sustainability Book Award. Winner to be announced July 5.

https://bookaward.project-syndicate.o...

"Starting in 2023, the Project Syndicate Sustainability Book Award, presented in partnership with La Banque Postale, will recognize one new book each year that offers uniquely valuable contributions to the public’s understanding of issues of global concern. ... Eligible books must be published for the first time in 2022, in the English language or in English translation."

Sounds interesting, thanks Carol! Looking forward to who will win this award in 2023.

Michaela wrote: "Sounds interesting, thanks Carol! Looking forward to who will win this award in 2023."

I am, too, Michaela. The amount of the cash award associated with it should garner some interest, I would think.

Carol wrote: "There's a new book award this year, and it comes with a 15,000 euro cash prize. The Sustainability Book Award. Winner to be announced July 5.

Thanks Carol -- I'll keep an eye out for this one!

Check out the 2023 PEN American longlists here.

https://pen.org/literary-awards/2023-...

Finalists will be announced in February, and the awards are made March 2.

The PEN Open Book Award, the Hemingway Award for a Debut Novel and the John Kenneth Galbraith Award for NonFiction are crowded with intriguing talent. Below I'm highlighting the women up for the Translation Prize, because so many of us are committed to supporting translated works by women, and - bonus - several of these publishers are indie/small presses:

All Your Children, Scattered, Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse (Europa Editions).
Translated from French by Alison Anderson

The Tatami Galaxy, Tomihiko Morimi (HarperVia)
Translated from Japanese by Emily Balistrieri

Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda (Coffee House Press)
Translated from Spanish by Sarah Booker

Call Me Cassandra, Marcial Gala (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Translated from Spanish by Anna Kushner

Moldy Strawberries by Caio Fernando Abreu (Archipelago Books) (Brazil)
Translated from Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato

Tono the Infallible by Evelio Rosero (New Directions Publishing)
Translated from Spanish by Victor Meadowcroft and Anne McLean

People from Bloomington, Budi Darma (Penguin Classics)
Translated from Indonesian by Tiffany Tsao

A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast by Dorthe Nors (Graywolf Press)
Translated from by Caroline Waight

Pina by Titaua Peu (Restless Books)
Translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman

Thanks Carol, an exciting list! I haven’t read any, though I have a library copy of Call Me Cassandra ready to start soon. I just looked at all the nominations lists and small presses are heavily represented… this feels like a significant shift for the big book prizes.

The International Booker prize longlist is out. By my count only 5 4 out of 13 authors are women. I'd love to be wrong so if anyone identifies a woman author on the list that I missed, please shout. Women authors and their novels are:

The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé. Translated from French (?) by her husband.

Boulder by Eva Baltasar. Translated by Julia Sanches from Catalan.

Is Mother Dead by Norwegian author, Vigdis Hjorth. Translated by Charlotte Barslund.

A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding  by Amanda Svensson. Translated by Nichola Smalley from Swedish.

(and - thanks to David, adding) Still Born by Mexican author, Guadalupe Nettel. Translated from Spanish by Rosalind Harvey.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

The shortlist (6) will be announced at London Book Fair on 18 April, with the winner announced on 23 May.

If you've read and recommend any of the long listed works, let us know.

Thanks, Carol. There is also:

Still Born by Mexican author, Guadalupe Nettel. Translated by Rosalind Harvey from Spanish.

Three other books have women translators:

Chi-Young Kim translated Whale from Korean.

Angela Rodel translated Time Shelter from Bulgarian.

Katy Derbyshire translated While We Were Dreaming from German.

Seven out of 13 translators is a good showing - although not 100% like the Women's Prize! I'm not sure how it compares to prior years.

David wrote: "Thanks, Carol. There is also:

Still Born by Mexican author, Guadalupe Nettel. Translated by Rosalind Harvey from Spanish.

Three other books have ..."

Thanks, David, for flagging my miss on Still Born as well as shining additional light on the women translators of male-authored works. I remain a bit taken aback by the author balance, but it perhaps simply mirrors the lack of funding for WiT we've bemoaned for some time. I suspect I've been spoiled by other longlists in the last few years.

I've read so much commentary in other groups, especially on Still Born and Time Shelter, that I need to get my hands on them all and create some fresh excitement for myself, too.

Agreed - five out of 13 for original authors is disappointing. The lack of funding for WiT is very real, particularly in some regions. That said, I wouldn't let this year's panel off the hook; there were some excellent works by women original authors that were overlooked.

David wrote: "Agreed - five out of 13 for original authors is disappointing. The lack of funding for WiT is very real, particularly in some regions. That said, I wouldn't let this year's panel off the hook; ther..."

For example, no Japanese or Korean author/book made the cut? I know we all have our preferences, but there are so many good books coming out of Finland and Iceland as well, and all could use the marketing boost of being longlisted. But I'll give a few of these at least 100 pages of a try and see if there's joy to be had. I'm certain there is.

Don’t get me started on the geographic biases with the International Booker 😅. It’s common to see 7-9 books out of 13 from European writers. This year, Latin America - home to so many groundbreaking feminist writers - received only one spot on the longlist (Nettel). South America was skipped over entirely. Asia - a majority of the world population - has just three books on the list. Africa one.

Last year was a different story. The shortlist featured five women: Geetanjali Shree, Mieko Kawakami, Olga Tokarczuk, Claudia Piniero, and Bora Chung. Fernanda Melchor and Violaine Huisman were longlisted. That’s quite a pantheon of living writers.

I agree Carol and David, I'm getting less and less interested in these translation prizes as of late

The Lammy Awards short list is out and it's rich, robust and not even slightly short. I've pasted below perhaps 20% of the categories and finalists.

https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/cur...

Lesbian Fiction

Big Girl: A Novel by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, W.W. Norton & Company
Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang, One World
Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda, translated by Sarah Booker, Coffee House Press
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley, Alfred A. Knopf
Our Wives Under the Sea: A Novel by Julia Armfield, Flatiron Books

Bisexual Fiction


Meet Us by the Roaring Sea by Akil Kumarasamy, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Mother Ocean Father Nation by Nishant Batsha, Ecco, HarperCollins
Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste, S&S / Saga Press
Roses, In the Mouth of a Lion: A Novel by Bushra Rehman, Flatiron Books
Stories No One Hopes Are about Them by A.J. Bermudez, The University of Iowa Press

Transgender Fiction


All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From by Izzy Wasserstein, Neon Hemlock
Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlottaby James Hannaham, Little, Brown and Company
Manywhere by Morgan Thomas, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/MCD
The Call-Out by Cat Fitzpatrick, Seven Stories Press
Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane, William Morrow

Bisexual Nonfiction

Appropriate Behavior by Maria San Filippo, McGill-Queen’s University Press
Carrying It Forward: Essays from Kistahpinanihk by John Brady McDonald, Wolsak and Wynn Publishers
Never Simple: A Memoir by Liz Scheier, Henry Holt / Macmillan
Open: An Uncensored Memoir of Love, Liberation, and Non-Monogamy by Rachel Krantz, Harmony Books, Penguin Random House
The Crane Wife by CJ Hauser, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Transgender Nonfiction


Before We Were Trans: A New History of Genderby Kit Heyam, Basic Books
Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist by Cecilia Gentili, LittlePuss Press
Feral City: On Finding Liberation in Lockdown New York by Jeremiah Moss, W.W. Norton & Company
The Terrible We: Thinking with Trans Maladjustment by Cameron Awkward-Rich, Duke University Press
The Third Person by Emma Grove, Drawn & Quarterly

LGBTQ+ Nonfiction


And the Category Is…: Inside New York’s Vogue, House, and Ballroom Community by Ricky Tucker, Beacon Press
How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler, Little, Brown & Company
The Black Period: On Personhood, Race, and Origin by Hafizah Augustus Geter, Random House
The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan, Bold Type Books, Hachette Book Group
Virology: Essays for the Living, the Dead, and the Small Things in Between by Joseph Osmundson, W.W. Norton & Company

*Hint - if you're excited to read one of the finalists', consider nominating a listed book as our next group read.

Its shortlist was published a couple of weeks ago, but TIL about the EBRD Literature Prize, which focuses on translated books, balanced by region. (EBRD is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.) Here's how it describes the purpose and scope of its Prize which might be of interest to #WiT readers looking for works from countries they haven't yet "visited."

This unique international prize... awards both authors from countries where the EBRD operates and their English translators. It celebrates the diversity of cultures and the rich literary expression from regions ranging from central and eastern Europe to Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the southern and eastern Mediterranean. It also celebrates the role of translators as “bridges” between cultures.

https://www.ebrd.com/news/2023/ebrd-l...#

The shortlisted novels written by women are:

Mister N by Lebanese author, Najwa Barakat, translated from the Arabic by Luke LeafgrenLuke Leafgren (And Other Stories). Country: Lebanon

A 2022 review @ the NationalNews.com https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-...

The Lake (Jezero) by Czech author, Bianca Bellová, translated from the Czech by Alex Zucker (Parthian Books). Country: Czech Republic

A review from nation.cymru (Wales) https://nation.cymru/culture/review-t...

Mothers and Truckers (Matky a Kamionisti), a short story collection by Slovak author, Ivana Dobrakovová, translated from the Slovak by Julia Sherwood and Peter Sherwood (Jantar Publishing). Country: Slovak Republic

Here's an interesting interview with Julia Sherwood, since I can't find any indication that Mothers and Truckers has been released in English, and this interview is very much worth reading. https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22274230/s...

Invisible Woman and Other Stories, a short story collection by Croatian journalist, novelist, and essayist Slavenka Drakulić, translated from the Croatian by Christina Pribichevich-Zoric with Jacob Agee (Fraktura). Country: Croatia. Not yet on GR. ISBN: 978-953358483-6

Review from slavenkadrakulic.com https://slavenkadrakulic.com/new-engl...

According To Her by Polish author, Maciej Hen, translated from the Polish by Anna Blasiak (Holland House Books). Country: Poland

An interview with Hen published by Asymptote Journal. https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog...

Body Kintsugi by Bosnian poet, Senka Marić, translated from the Bosnian by Celia Hawkesworth (Peirene). Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina [GR's add book/author feature is OOO]

Carol, thank you for posting these prize lists, they've been both helpful, and interesting. I'm almost finished with 50 Things Kate Bush Taught Me about the Multiverse from the LAMBDA list, and I'm really enjoying it.

The last 2 weeks have been big. The Scotiabank Giller and the National Book Award long lists came out and I find reading the jurors' way of framing their result as informative as the books they include.

First, the Canadians (women authors below, the full list is at the link - women authors received 9 out of 12 slots!):

Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein (also made the Booker longlist - Bernstein was born in Montreal but resides in Scotland)

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (also made the shortlist for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction)

The Clarion by Nina Dunic(debut, release date = Sept 5)

We Meant Well, a debut novel by Erum Shazia Hasan (she's a sustainable development consultant for the United Nations and other international aid agencies)

The Islands: Stories by Dionne Irving (longlisted for the 2023 New American Voices Award; finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction) ("Powerful stories that explore the legacy of colonialism, and issues of race, immigration, sexual discrimination, and class in the lives of Jamaican women across London, Panama, France, Jamaica, Florida and more")

Wait Softly Brother by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (access this link for interviews, additional context and review links: https://bookstore.wolsakandwynn.ca/pr...)

The Rooftop Garden by Menaka Raman-Wilms (publisher's page has great content for determining if this one appeals: https://harbourpublishing.com/product...)

We Have Never Lived On Earth by Kasia Van Schaik (debut story collection, contemplates impact of ecological crisis and other themes)

Girlfriend on Mars, a "funny, poignant, page-turning debut" by Deborah Willis (more here: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393285918)

https://scotiabankgillerprize.ca/2023... The shortlist announcement will be October 11.

I'm most excited to read The Islands: Stories and The Double Life of Benson Yu (male longlist author) but will give The Rooftop Garden a shot, as well.

If you've read and recommend any of them, let us know.

The National Book Awards Longlist is joyfully robust.
Here's a link to the 5 finalists (including male authors and translators) in each of the 5 categories https://www.nationalbook.org/2022-nat...

Fiction

Tess Gunty, The Rabbit Hutch
Alfred A. Knopf / Penguin Random House

Gayl Jones, The Birdcatcher
Beacon Press

Jamil Jan Kochai, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories
Viking Books / Penguin Random House

Sarah Thankam Mathews, All This Could Be Different
Viking Books / Penguin Random House

Alejandro Varela, The Town of Babylon
Astra House / Astra Publishing House

Translated Literature

Jon Fosse, A New Name: Septology VI-VII
Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
Transit Books

Scholastique Mukasonga, Kibogo
Translated from the French by Mark Polizzotti
Archipelago Books

Mónica Ojeda, Jawbone
Translated from the Spanish by Sarah Booker
Coffee House Press

Samanta Schweblin, Seven Empty Houses
Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell
Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House

Yoko Tawada, Scattered All Over the Earth
Translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani
New Directions Publishing

Poetry

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Look at This Blue
Coffee House Press

John Keene, Punks: New & Selected Poems
The Song Cave

Sharon Olds, Balladz
Alfred A. Knopf / Penguin Random House

Roger Reeves, Best Barbarian
W. W. Norton & Company

Jenny Xie, The Rupture Tense
Graywolf Press

Young People's Lit

Kelly Barnhill, The Ogress and the Orphans
Algonquin Young Readers / Workman Publishing

Sonora Reyes, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School
Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins Publishers

Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice
Norton Young Readers / W. W. Norton & Company

Sabaa Tahir, All My Rage
Razorbill / Penguin Random House

Lisa Yee, Maizy Chen’s Last Chance
Random House Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House

and Nonfiction

Meghan O'RourkeM, The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness
Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House

Imani Perry, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
Ecco / HarperCollins Publishers

David Quammen, Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus
Simon & Schuster

Ingrid Rojas Contreras, The Man Who Could Move Clouds
Doubleday / Penguin Random House

Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
Viking Books / Penguin Random House

*If you're a member of the Newest Literary Fiction group, Beverly linked to all of the titles and authors in a post there - my hat's off to her

Let us know what you've read, what you're excited to read, what deserves to win.

Glad to have discovered this thread, thanks, Carol.

I just learned of The Caine Prize for African Writing on BBC radio yesterday.
https://www.caineprize.com/

There was an interview with the winners- it was a Senegalese couple who collaborated on the prizewinning piece:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa...

And in this Guardian article, the story is actually linked!
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

As stated in the Guardian article, it began in 2000, and "is awarded for a short story by an African writer published in English. Named in memory of former Booker prize management committee chair Sir Michael Harris Caine, the prize aims to bring African writing to a wider audience. Previous winners have included Idza Luhumyo, NoViolet Bulawayo and Irenosen Okojie."

They also hold an annual writer's workshop, I believe in a different African country every year. They put out anthologies that spotlight the winner, the runners-up, and pieces that come out of the workshop.
There are some in the Goodreads database.
Caine Prize

For Women in Translation readers: The shortlists for the National Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose were released today. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on November 11th, and will be awarded $4,000 each. Women author finalists are:

PROSE:

Thuận, Chinatown
translated from Vietnamese by Nguyễn An Lý
(New Directions/Tilted Axis)

Monique Ilboudo, So Distant From My Life
translated from French by Yarri Kamara
(Tilted Axis)

Sheela Tomy, Valli
translated from Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil
(HarperCollins India)

POETRY:

Phoebe Giannisi, Cicada
translated from Greek by Brian Sneeden
(New Directions)

Nelly Sachs, Flight and Metamorphosis: Poems: A Bilingual Edition
translated from German by Joshua Weiner with Linda B. Parshall
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

In the Same Light: 200 Tang Poems for Our Century
translated from Chinese by Wong May
(The Song Cave | Caranet)

Iman Mersal, Threshold
translated from Arabic by Robyn Creswell
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Vénus Khoury-Ghata, The Water People
translated from French by Marilyn Hacker
(The Poetry Translation Centre)

Ananda Devi, When the Night Agrees to Speak to Me
translated from French by Kazim Ali
(Deep Vellum/Phoneme | HarperCollins India)

https://lithub.com/here-are-the-short...

I'm not familiar with these finalists. If you've read and recommend any of them, please share!

Jen wrote: "Glad to have discovered this thread, thanks, Carol.

I just learned of The Caine Prize for African Writing on BBC radio yesterday.
https://www.caineprize.com/

There was an interview with the winne..."

Jen, Thanks so much for sharing these links and info. What a great prize to follow and learn from.

Hat tip to David for bringing the JCB Prize for Literature to my attention in another group. I'll keep an eye on it for the future, but have to say I'm disappointed in how male-heavy the longlist is, in a way that makes me feel like I've fallen back to the 1990s. Maybe it's a win that most prestige prize lists don't look like this any more.

The JCB Prize website: https://www.thejcbprize.org/

From David: "The JCB Prize is the more high-profile Indian book prize (roughly equivalent to the Booker). Books written in English and those translated into English are both eligible. Last year's shortlist was widely celebrated for all five entries translated from Indian languages into English."

This year's shortlist (one woman author and one woman translator):
- The Secret of More, Tejaswini Apte-Rahm
- The Nemesis, Manoranjan Byapari, translated from the Bengali by V Ramaswamy
- Fire Bird, Perumal Murugan, translated from the Tamil by Janani Kannan
- Mansur, Vikramjit Ram
- I Named My Sister Silence, Manoj Rupda, translated from the Hindi by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar

Full longlist:
- The Secret of More A Novel, Tejaswini Apte-Rahm
- The Nemesis, Manoranjan Byapari, translated from the Bengali by V Ramaswamy (Westland Books)
- The East Indian, Brinda Charry
- Simsim, Geet Chaturvedi, translated from the Hindi by Anita Gopalan
- Fire Bird, Perumal Murugan, translated from the Tamil by Janani Kannan
- Everything the Light Touches, Janice Pariat
- Mansur, Vikramjit Ram
- I Named My Sister Silence, Manoj Rupda, translated from the Hindi by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar
- The Colony of Shadows, Bikram Sharma
- Manjhi's Mayhem, Tanuj Solanki

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4FRN0...

This is the link to the instagram announcement of the 2024 Stella Prize longlist

Sonia wrote: "https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4FRN0...

This is the link to the instagram announcement of the 2024 Stella Prize longlist"

Thanks Sonia! I put them in html so that I could check out some of them. Powerful stuff here!

Abandon Every Hope: Essays for the dead by Hayley Singer
Body Friend by Katherine Brabon
Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko
Feast by Emily O'Grady
Graft: Motherhood, Family and a Year on the Land by Maggie MacKellar
Hospital by Sanya Rushdi
Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright
She is the Earth by Ali Cobby Eckermann
West Girls by Laura Elizabeth Woollett

The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop
The Hummingbird Effect by Kate Mildenhall
The Swift Dark Tide by Katia Ariel

Gail W wrote: "Sonia wrote: "https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4FRN0...

This is the link to the instagram announcement of the 2024 Stella Prize longlist"

Thanks Sonia! I put them in html ..." Thanks so much for doing this ♥

oh, man, I'm so looking forward to working through this Stella list.

It's taken me days to find the Women's Prize Nonfiction longlist in an easy to grab fashion. Here it is.

The Britannias: An Archipelago's Tale by Alice Albinia

Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts, and the Death of Freedom by Grace Blakeley

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon

Intervals by Marianne Brooker

Shadows At Noon by Joya Chatterji

Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming

Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country by Patricia Evangelista

Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder

Matrescence by Lucy Jones

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein

A Flat Place: Moving Through Empty Landscapes, Naming Complex Trauma by Noreen Masud

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles

Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AII by Madhumita Murgia

The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary by Sarah Ogilvie

Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power by Leah Redmond Chang

Thanks Carol for The Women's Prize Non-Fiction Longlist and thanks also to Sophia and Gail W. for The Stella Prize Longlist.

The Women's Prize Fiction Longlist and and its 16 books and authors are listed below.

There are lots of debut novels, a few seasoned writers and many immigrants and nationalities from around the world - a multitude of great choices to enjoy.

Hangman by Maya Binyam

In Defence of the ActI by Effie Black

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright

The Maiden by Kate Foster

Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan]

Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy

8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster by Mirinae Lee

The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

Nightbloom by Peace Adzo Medie

Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure

A Trace of Sun by Pam Williams

Short List for Women's Prize Non-Fiction announced in no particular order

Was happy to see 4 from the Non-fiction Long List that had appealed to me made it to the Short List. Hope you find some titles that pique your interest as well.

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles

Code Dependent: Living in the Shadow of AI by Madhumita Murgia

A Flat Place: Moving Through Empty Landscapes, Naming Complex Trauma by Noreen Masud

Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

Mj wrote: "Short List for Women's Prize Non-Fiction announced in no particular order

Was happy to see 4 from the Non-fiction Long List that had appealed to me made it to the Short List. Hope you find some ti..."

Thanks for sharing. The Noreen Masud is really piquing my interest. And I'm on a waitlist for the audio of the Sinclair. Should be diving into that one within the next few months.

Jen wrote: "Thanks for sharing. The Noreen Masud is really piquing my interest. And I'm on a waitlist for the audio of the Sinclair. Should be diving into that one within the next few months."

Hi Jen,
You're welcome. Appreciate your thanks. A Flat Place: Moving Through Empty Landscapes, Naming Complex Trauma was one of the 4 books I mentioned that made the Women's Prize Non-Fiction long list, as was How to Say Babylon[boo. Also have a copy arriving soon.

I was surprised and disappointed that more members didn't vote to select Carol's nomination of [book:How to Say Babylon|62919742] for May's non-fiction group read poll.....but I guess there's just too little time for all the available books on offer.

Mj wrote: "Jen wrote: "Thanks for sharing. The Noreen Masud is really piquing my interest. And I'm on a waitlist for the audio of the Sinclair. Should be diving into that one within the next few months."

Hi..."

Ah yea, I feel you. I was happy to see it nominated. It was a tough choice that poll.

The Women's Prize for Fiction Short List of 6 books was announced today. The books and authors are listed below.

It looks like a nice assortment with many titles mentioned by Read Womem Members.

In order of author's surname:

The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright

Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan

Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville

Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy

River East, River West by Aube Rey Lescure

Mj wrote: "The Women's Prize for Fiction Short List of 6 books was announced today. The books and authors are listed below.

It looks like a nice assortment with many titles mentioned by Read Womem Members.

..."

I find this short list to be so different from last year's - in a good way - in that I have heard so very little about any of these books. I haven't checked (will later today) but I don't think they're even all available in the US yet. A little mystery is more interesting to me than a list dominated by titles I've been seeing prominently displayed on tables in bookstores and as in-person book club selections for 6 - 8 months.

Mj wrote: "The Women's Prize for Fiction Short List of 6 books was announced today. The books and authors are listed below.

It looks like a nice assortment with many titles mentioned by Read Womem Members.

..."

I have read Soldier Sailor by Irish writer Claire Kilroy, a thrilling, visceral account of the difficult, early months of motherhood, the resentments and near insanity of it when not coping, and the gratitude in finding a friend who listens and understands - my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am planning to read British /Palestinian author Isabella Hammad's Enter Ghost and V.V. Ganeshananthan's (SriLanka) Brotherless Night.

Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan has won The 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

From their website:
This prize is the first major English-language literary prize to celebrate creativity and excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States (based on Carol Shields' American birth and her Canadian citizenship - my addition for explanation.)

The winner was awarded $150,000 USD and $12,500 USD was awarded to each of the other four finalists.

Mj wrote: "Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan has won The 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction..."

Yay!

The Women’s Prize for Fiction will be awarded June 13. Mj shared the shortlist in comment 44. For planning purposes, we will open up a buddy read thread to read and discuss the winning novel when it’s announced.

Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos is the winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize.



https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booke...

I’m an Erpenbeck fan, but wasn’t able to get into when I tried last year. Another effort is due, definitely.