THE PRETTIEST STAR by Carter Sickels is a fiction finalist for the 2021 Ohioana Book Awards. The winners will be announced in July, and an awards ceremony is set for October 14th at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Hub City Press published the book on May 19, 2020.

GOLDEN GATES author Conor Dougherty was honored with a SABEW Best in Business award in the Real Estate – Large Division category for his 2020 coverage of housing and the pandemic for the New York Times. Penguin Press published Golden Gates on February 18, 2020.

Craig Davidson’s short story collection CASCADE is a finalist for the 2021 Trillium Book Award, Ontario's “leading award for literature" that was established to "recognize excellence, support marketing and foster increased public awareness of the quality and diversity of Ontario writers and writing.” They praise: “Reminiscent of Stephen King's brilliantly cinematic short stories that went on to inspire films such as THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and STAND BY ME, here's a collection crackling with Craig Davidson's superb craft and kinetic energy: in the visceral, crystalline, steel-tipped prose; in the psychological perspicacity; and in the endearing humour.” Knopf Canada published the book on August 18, 2020.

Namwali Serpell's collection of speculative essays, STRANGER FACES, is a 2021 CLMP Firecracker Awards for Independently Published Literature finalist in the Creative Nonfiction category. The Firecracker Awards are given annually “to celebrate books and magazines that make a significant contribution to our literary culture and the publishers that strive to introduce important voices to readers far and wide.” The winners of the award will be announced on June 23rd at 7pm ET via a virtual awards ceremony hosted by The Center for Fiction. Transit Books published STRANGER FACES on October 20, 2020.

Xiaolu Guo’s A LOVER’S DISCOURSE has been longlisted for the 2021 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. The prize “rewards outstanding novels and collections of short stories first published in the UK that illuminate major social and political themes, present or past, through the art of narrative.” The Orwell prize shortlists for each category will be announced later this spring, and the winners will be announced on George Orwell’s birthday on June 25th. Grove Press published the novel on October 13, 2020.

FIGURE IT OUT by Wayne Koestenbaum is a finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction. The Randy Shilts Award “honors the journalist whose groundbreaking work on the AIDS epidemic for the San Francisco Chronicle made him a hero to many in the community. This award recognizes the best nonfiction book of the year by or about gay men, bisexual men, and/or trans men, or that has significant influence upon the lives of queer men.” Soft Skull published the book on May 5, 2020.

MINOR FEELINGS by Cathy Park Hong is the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in the Autobiography category. The award is presented annually to “the finest books published in English in six categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry, and Criticism.” One World published the book on February 25, 2020.

De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s IN WEST MILLS is the winner of the 2021 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction. Jonathan Haupt, contest judge and executive director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center, writes: “Winslow has given us such a world in his vision of West Mills – a world notably dedicated ‘to the reader’ in which Black stories matter and we cannot help but wish we would linger, listen and learn a while longer.” Bloomsbury published the book on June 4, 2019.

GOLDEN GATES by Conor Dougherty has been shortlisted for The New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. The award “honors a journalist whose work brings clarity and public attention to important issues, events, or policies.” Penguin Press published the book on February 18, 2020.

HELLO NUMBERS! WHAT CAN YOU DO? by Edmund Harriss and Houston Hughes is shortlisted for Chalkdust’s 2020 Book of the Year. They recommend the title “to anyone with younger primary aged children or relatives looking for a fun book to encourage some number-related exploration and play with a child.”