James Han Mattson’s celebrated psychological thriller REPRIEVE was shortlisted for the 32nd Annual Reading the West Book Award, in the Fiction category. The winners will be announced on June 7 via a virtual ceremony on Zoom. William Morrow published REPRIEVE on October 5, 2021.

THE MOVEMENT MADE US by David Dennis, Jr. in collaboration with his father, David Dennis, Sr., is accumulating a wealth of great press in the weeks leading up to its publication. The book received a starred review from Library Journal, where reviewer Ahliah Bratzler praises: “This memoir of survival is critical to understanding the movement from the perspective of the people on the ground. Moving, evocative, and haunting, this father-son perspective on the civil rights movement is a necessary read and a great addition for all library collections.” Meanwhile, The Atlantic published a moving essay adapted from the book, titled “The Day the Civil Rights Movement Changed: What my father saw in Mississippi.” Harper will publish THE MOVEMENT MADE US on May 10, 2022.

Publishers Weekly wrote a glowing review of COLLECTION PLATE author Kendra Allen’s forthcoming memoir, FRUIT PUNCH. The review praises the memoir as a “wholly original and unsparing work,” adding: “Allen’s prowess comes through in her blunt rendering of the powerlessness she struggled against as a Black woman navigating race and sexuality in the South… Indeed, the narrative rarely lets up in its frank or discomfiting depictions, but it yields a refreshingly authentic look at what it means to create oneself in a contradictory world.” Ecco will publish the book on August 9, 2022.

SIRENS & MUSES by Antonia Angress was awarded a starred review from Publishers Weekly. The reviewer praises: “A quartet of artists negotiate love, ambition, and politics during the 2011 Occupy movement in Angress’s winning debut…Angress sweeps everything toward a wonderfully complex conclusion. This is a standout.” Ballantine Books will publish the novel on July 12, 2022.

BROTHER, SISTER, MOTHER, EXPLORER by Jamie Figueroa was shortlisted for the 32nd Annual Reading the West Book Award, in the Debut Fiction category. The winners will be announced on June 7 via a virtual ceremony on Zoom. Catapult published the novel on March 2, 2021.

PARIS IS A PARTY, PARIS IS A GHOST by David Hoon Kim was shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the novel on August 3, 2021.

THE FINAL REVIAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton was shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. 37 Ink published the novel on March 30, 2021.

HOW YOU GET FAMOUS by Nicole Pasulka received a starred review from Booklist. Reviewer Emily Dziuban writes: “Like its subjects, this first book by journalist Pasulka is a national treasure. Authentically, sensitively, and expansively recording the personal and sociopolitical realities of drag in Brooklyn from 2011 to 2021, this compendium preserves the people, places, and evolving culture that made drag famous…The book’s impressively broad lens is matched by its zoom-in on the details of drag. Readers will learn drag-specific lexicon and cultural competencies that make this subculture unlike any other and influential beyond any expectations.” Simon & Schuster will publish the book on June 7, 2022.

The Irish Times wrote a glowing review for VERY COLD PEOPLE by Sarah Manguso. Reviewer Mary O’Donnell writes: “Manguso has written a delicately controlled, subtle novel which never shouts its horror. The tone is understated, the writing etched and therefore powerful. Gradually, memorably, she reveals the vipers in the social and familial undergrowth.” Hogarth published the novel on February 8, 2022.

Rebecca Stott’s debut novel DARK EARTH received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. They rave: “Stott follows up the memoir IN THE DAYS OF RAIN with an impressive narrative set in the aftermath of the Roman Empire…Stott concretely captures the brutality of the women’s world, their deep resourcefulness, and the power of the stories that sustain and endanger them. This is a memorable achievement.” Random House will publish the novel on July 19, 2022.