The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) named Gabriela Garcia’s debut novel OF WOMEN AND SALT a finalist for the 2022 Southern Book Prize. The award celebrates “bookseller favorites from 2021 that are Southern in nature—either about the South or by a Southern writer. Nominations were submitted by bookstore members of SIBA and culled from books that received strong reviews from Southern booksellers. The 18 finalists which received the highest number of nominations are a collection of the most beloved ‘hand sells’ in fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature of the year…Winners in each category will be chosen by popular vote from readers who support Southern independent bookstores.” Voting opened November 5, 2021 and will run through February 1, 2022, and the winners will be announced on February 14, 2022. Flatiron Books published OF WOMEN AND SALT on March 30, 2021.

Dawnie Walton's THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV has been longlisted for the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize, which is “one of the largest literary prizes in the United States, and one of the few focused exclusively on fiction with a social impact.” The shortlist will be shared on February 23, 2022, and the winner will be announced on April 21, 2022. 37 Ink published the novel on March 30, 2021.

Lauren Etter’s THE DEVIL’S PLAYBOOK was selected as finalist for the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing’s second annual Best in Business Book Awards. The book was amongst titles selected by SABEW that “demonstrat[e] the power of business news in this critical era.” Crown published the book on May 25, 2021.

The French edition of Daniel Loedel’s debut novel, HADES, ARGENTINA, has won the prestigious Prix du Premier Roman Étranger. Judged by a panel of literary critics, the award is given each year to the best first book by a foreign author. HADES, ARGENTINA was also named a finalist for two other French prizes: the Prix Femina and the FNAC First Novel Prize. La Croisée published the French edition on August 25, 2021, and Riverhead Books published the US edition on January 12, 2021.

After being named one of three finalists in the category, Brian Castleberry has won the Library of Virginia’s 2021 Award for Fiction for his debut novel NINE SHINY OBJECTS. Custom House published the book on June 30, 2020, and the paperback edition on August 17, 2021.

Gabriela Garcia’s debut novel, OF WOMEN AND SALT, was awarded the Gold Medal for the Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Fiction Award – English at Empowering Latino Futures’ International Latino Book Awards on October 17. Flatiron Books published the novel on March 30, 2021.

Sunjeev Sahota’s CHINA ROOM has been longlisted for the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. The shortlist will be announced on November 8, 2021, and the winners will be announced at the Reference and User Services Association’s Book and Media Awards event during ALA’s first annual LibLearnX on January 23, 2022. Viking published the novel on July 13, 2021.

Maxim Loskutoff’s debut novel RUTHIE FEAR was named the 2021 High Plains Book Award winner for Fiction. He was previously honored in 2019 in the Short Stories category for his debut collection, COME WEST AND SEE. The judges praise the novel’s titular protagonist: "Ruthie Fear, who only once leaves Montana, has seen more of the world than you or I or most of the world’s fictional characters. She understands life’s too-short sweetness and its dark monsters; she is both a complete original and utterly believable.” The Billings Gazette, meanwhile, calls RUTHIE FEAR “one of the most powerful and resonant novels of 2020,” and Loskutoff “a brilliant and thoughtful writer.” W. W. Norton & Company published the book on September 1, 2020.

THE PROPHETS by Robert Jones Jr. has been longlisted for the 2021 National Book Award in Fiction. The finalists will be announced on October 5, and the winners will be announced on November 17. G.P. Putnam’s Sons published THE PROPHETS on January 5, 2021.

The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing has selected THE DEVIL’S PLAYBOOK by Lauren Etter for the shortlist for the Best in Business Books Awards. The winner will be announced later this fall. Crown published the book on May 25, 2021.