This morning,
PEN America released the 2021 Literary Awards Finalists. More than forty-five imprints and presses are featured on the list, with half of the titles coming from university and indie presses. Twenty books are from writers making their literary debuts, and half the titles among the open-genre awards are poetry collections. Chosen by a cohort of judges representing a wide range of disciplines, backgrounds, identities, and aesthetic lineages, these fifty-five Finalist books represent a humbling selection of the year’s finest examples of literary excellence.
The stories on the Finalists lists are about parents, grandparents, and grandchildren, about siblings and their rivalries. These writers share the lives of people who are nonbinary and people who are transgender; people of all ages with changing bodies; immigrants and citizens and people seeking refuge; a basketball legend; a young woman who plucks factory chickens smooth; a tugboat driver; and Phillis Wheatley, Ame
Minneapolis writer a finalist for two PEN America awards Kawai Strong Washburn a finalist for most original and best debut.
By Laurie Hertzel, Star Tribune February 10, 2021 1:00am Text size Copy shortlink:
Minneapolis writer Kawai Strong Washburn s debut novel, Sharks in the Time of Saviors, which was published last March, is a finalist in two categories for a PEN America award. Washburn is only the second writer ever to have been a finalist in two categories. Sharks is a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Award for the most original book in any genre, which carries a $75,000 honorarium, and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for best debut book, which carries a $10,000 prize.
V.V. Ganeshananthan: You say at the top of your
Vogue essay [about Kamala Harris], that our institution and communities have to “do more to heed the perspectives of Black people and people of color in their midst.” I think that’s always been true just in terms of morality and social justice. But leaders like Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams are now real power brokers in the Democratic Party, and voters of color were crucial to Biden’s primary and his victory in the election. And so Democrats really can’t win elections without those voting blocs. So what should Joe Biden and Kamala Harris be doing in practical terms to heed the perspectives of Black people and people of color?
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Whatever Twitter, Spotify and YouTube can do, Barack Obama can do too. As the big tech platforms release their most popular lists for 2020, so too has the former US president, who took to social media to share his favourite songs, TV shows, books and movies of the year.
Obama, who also got to celebrate his former vice president Joe Biden winning the 2020 US election, shared his big and small screen highlights of 2020, as well as the books he’s read and the music he’s been listening to, showing off his diverse tastes. Here s a look at all of his top picks for the year:
The 17 Best Books of 2020, According to Barack Obama
Courtesy of the publishers
Several of Obama’s picks also landed on AFAR’s lists of book recommendations this year for travelers.
Following the release of his latest book, the former president shares his favorites released this year from other authors. share this article
Need a last-minute gift idea? Something to entertain yourself over the holiday break that isn’t a screen? Former President Barack Obama shared his annual list of favorite books on Thursday, December 17, and it’s full of some of the year’s best releases.
“I’ll start by sharing my favorite books this year, deliberately omitting what I think is a pretty good book