THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton is the winner of the 2022 Aspen Words Literary Prize. The prize jury raves: “As innovative in form as it is soulful in delivery, THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV is a dazzling exploration of the spectacular and eerie complications of the way race, gender and punk rock necessarily collide…Dawnie Walton blurs the lines between revelation and realization in a book that witnesses, and really undulates under, the weight of professional and personal secrets, while picking away at the very real desire for American progress with few substantial models for reciprocal American reckoning.” The novel was also featured on The Seattle Times’ list of must-read paperbacks for spring, and lauded by Danyel Smith in her interview with The New Yorker: “[THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV] is just – the genius of that book is not lifted up high enough.” 37 Ink published the book on March 30, 2021.

SORROW AND BLISS by Meg Mason was shortlisted for the prestigious 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction, which aims to “empower all women to raise their voice and own their story, shining a spotlight on outstanding and ambitious fiction by women from anywhere in the world, regardless of their age, race, nationality or background.” The winner will be announced on June 15. Harper published the book on February 9, 2021.

Francesca Stavrakopoulou’s GOD has been shortlisted for the UK’s 2022 Wolfson History Prize. The judges praise the book as “[o]riginal and courageous,” adding: “This ambitious yet readable discussion of the physicality of God enhances our understanding of the history of monotheistic religions and Western culture.” The winner will be announced on June 22. Knopf published the book on January 25, 2022.

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award announced HADES, ARGENTINA by Daniel Loedel as one of 20 debut novels to make the award’s 2022 longlist. The award “honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. Symbolized by a three-dimensional compass, the award is a tribute to writers who have navigated their way through the maze of imagination and delivered a great read, taking the reader someplace new.” Riverhead Books published the novel on January 12, 2021.

WHO WILL PAY REPARATIONS ON MY SOUL? author Jesse McCarthy is a 2022 Whiting Award winner. The selection committee writes: “Jesse McCarthy’s thought arrows through time periods, belief systems, literary movements, and aesthetics. His observations on the intersections of history, pop culture, and Black personhood roll over us like an incoming storm of gorgeous sentences. He is not afraid to stake out arguments and hold positions, but he is more interested in exploration than in polemic and wants above all to honor political and literary complexity. These are clutch-your-throat essays, revelatory, resonant, and uncompromising. Dazzling is the only word.” Liveright published the book on March 30, 2021.

ALL OUR NAMES author Dinaw Mengestu is a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow for Fiction. Fellowships were awarded “to a diverse group of 180 exceptional individuals. Chosen from a rigorous application and peer review process out of almost 2500 applicants, these successful applicants were appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise.” Knopf published ALL OUR NAMES on March 4, 2014.

NOW BEACON, NOW SEA author Christopher Sorrentino is a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow for General Nonfiction. Fellowships were awarded “to a diverse group of 180 exceptional individuals. Chosen from a rigorous application and peer review process out of almost 2500 applicants, these successful applicants were appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise.” Catalpult published NOW BEACON, NOW SEA on September 7, 2021.

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award announced THE PROPHETS by Robert Jones, Jr. as one of 20 debut novels to make the award’s 2022 longlist. The award “honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. Symbolized by a three-dimensional compass, the award is a tribute to writers who have navigated their way through the maze of imagination and delivered a great read, taking the reader someplace new.” G.P. Putnam’s Sons published the novel on January 5, 2021.

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award announced PARIS IS A PARTY, PARIS IS A GHOST by David Hoon Kim as one of 20 debut novels to make the award’s 2022 longlist. The award “honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. Symbolized by a three-dimensional compass, the award is a tribute to writers who have navigated their way through the maze of imagination and delivered a great read, taking the reader someplace new.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the novel on August 3, 2021.

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award announced THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton as one of 20 debut novels to make the award’s 2022 longlist. The award “honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. Symbolized by a three-dimensional compass, the award is a tribute to writers who have navigated their way through the maze of imagination and delivered a great read, taking the reader someplace new.” 37 Ink published the novel on March 30, 2021.