News - Literary News
News - Literary News

DECENT PEOPLE by De'Shawn Charles Winslow has received a wealth of critical acclaim ahead of its publication this month. The novel received a starred review from BookPage. Reviewer Alice Cary writes: “Anyone who adored Charmaine Wilkerson’s BLACK CAKE and Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s TAKE MY HAND, take note. Winslow invites readers on a satisfying ride that, through his keen observations of human nature, leads to deeper considerations of the glacial progress of racial equality…To reveal such underlying truths, DECENT PEOPLE twists the light this way and that, showing the simmering tensions that can indeed turn deadly.” Cary also interviewed Winslow for BookPage, where Winslow discussed his inspirations for DECENT PEOPLE as well as ideas that he has for his next book. DECENT PEOPLE was also selected as book of the month by both Amazon Books and Apple Books, and was featured on 2023 most-anticipated and must-read lists from Good Housekeeping, USA Today, Electric Literature, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Root, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Millions. Bloomsbury Publishing will publish the book on January 17, 2023.

Ed Yong’s AN IMMENSE WORLD continues to receive praise. It was selected as one of KCRW's “Life Examined’s Best Reads of 2022,” as well as one of New York Magazine's The Strategist’s “Best Books for Every Type of Dad,” specifically as a book “[f]or the dad who’s on his fifth watch of David Attenborough’s LIFE IN COLOR.” Random House published the book on June 21, 2022.

Lakiesha Carr’s AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SKIN was selected by R.O. Kwon for Electric Lit’s “62 Books by Women of Color to Read in 2023.” Pantheon will publish the novel on February 28, 2023.

Namwali Serpell’s THE FURROWS was featured in the LA Times piece “How 2022 became the year of the fragmented-identity novel.” Mark Athitakis writes: “The tail end of 2022 has been marked by a worrying sense that the center really isn’t holding…[M]uch of the prominent fiction of 2022 met the moment and captured this fragmentation, thick with code-switching, style-shifting and cacophonies of anxious narration. The omniscient, singular authorial voice in literary fiction has become ever more antiquated — still valuable, but more like an exotic, bespoke retreat than literature’s mainland…This approach manifested itself poignantly in Namwali Serpell’s second novel, THE FURROWS. A woman mourning her brother’s sudden death switches tones and perspectives to either grasp or escape her complicity in the incident. Her status as a character morphs, as if to suggest that inhabiting someone else’s identity might bring us closer to our own...Serpell is doing much the same for the trauma plot: A recurring phrase in THE FURROWS is, ‘I don’t want to tell you what happened. I want to tell you how it felt.’ Serpell is saying that as much as the protagonist is. She’s seeking a form that escapes conventional storytelling about The Incident That Changed Everything while still building a story around exactly that.” THE FURROWS was also selected as a "Best Book for Every Type of Mom" by New York Magazine’s The Strategist, specifically “[f]or the mom who doesn’t do genre fiction.” Hogarth published THE FURROWS on September 27, 2022.

James Spooner's and Chris L. Terry's BLACK PUNK NOW is one of Nylon's most-anticipated books of 2023, praised as a “comprehensive anthology of contemporary nonfiction, fiction, illustrations, and comics [that] encompass[es] what Black punk’s past, present, and future is.” Soft Skull Press will publish the book on October 31, 2023.

TODAY selected Idra Novey’s TAKE WHAT YOU NEED as a most-anticipated book of 2023. Viking will publish the novel on March 14, 2023.

SINK by Joseph Earl Thomas was selected as a most-anticipated book of 2023 by Yahoo News, Goodreads (“So-called geek culture has saved a lot of lives over the years by providing a home for those who were denied a place elsewhere. Author Joseph Earl Thomas makes a strong case for just how literally this life-saving aspect can be. Abused and neglected as a child, Thomas tells his story in this highly acclaimed memoir, which won the 2020 Chautauqua Janus Prize. Geek love is strong”), SheReads (“[SINK] explores poverty, loneliness, toxic masculinity and much more. Kiese Laymon calls Sink ‘brilliant and brilliantly different,’ which is enough for me”), and Debutiful (“A fearless debut that will change your life. I read this in one sitting and it moved me in ways I couldn’t imagine. Thomas moves through brutal moments and uplifting ones with grace. It is a memoir that should be taught in writing classes from now until the end of time”). Grand Central Publishing will publish the memoir on February 21, 2023.

AN IMMENSE WORLD by Ed Yong continues to receive praise and accolades. The book was included in the Readers Digest Best Books of 2022 (“The deeply researched book immerses readers in the animal kingdom. Even the proudest pet owner or animal lover will learn something new…Page by page, Yong shines a new light on animal experiences in this dazzling narrative nonfiction book”) and was named a Time Magazine Top 10 Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 (“Yong’s absorbing book is a joyful blend of scientific study and elegant prose that transforms textbook fodder into something much more exciting and accessible"). Random House published the book on June 21, 2022.

Lit Hub included STRANGERS TO OURSELVES by Rachel Aviv in its roundup of the Best Book Covers of 2022. Alison Forner calls it “[s]uch a simple design, yet so incredibly unnerving – it’s a design you can almost hear,” Mark Abrams praises it as “elegant,” and Jamie Stafford-Hill calls it “[d]eceptively simple, really effective.” STRANGERS TO OURSELVES was also named a best book of the year by Bookforum, where Lynne Tillman raves: "STRANGERS TO OURSELVES is an important contribution to contemporary thought about mental illness and the psychiatrization of everyday life. Through the stories, case histories, of others, Aviv examines how they came to be identified by their 'illnesses,' and how their illnesses told their stories and not them. The book asks readers to be skeptical of professional 'mind-readers' and diagnoses that threaten to control a person’s life.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book on September 13, 2022.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SKIN by Lakiesha Carr received a starred Publishers Weekly Review: "By tracing the characters’ complex bonds, Carr underscores the power of community and kinship among Black women who find a way to be vulnerable and joyful in a world that too often charges them with the role of caretakers. This exploration of love, courage, and desire is not to be missed." The novel also received a fabulous review from Kirkus: “Whether seen as a novel or three novellas linked by overlapping characters, Carr’s debut is by turns eloquent and raw, fantastical and realistic…With vivid writing and characters, Carr's debut is sometimes brutal or sentimental, always passionate, never boring.” Pantheon will publish the novel on February 28, 2023.