From these finalists for the PEN America Literary Awards, winners will be announced on April 8 and receive a total of more than US$380,000.
Dining tents in New York City’s Bryant Park, February 4. Image – iStockphoto: Massimo Giachetti
From 1,850 Submissions, 55 Finalists
A total of 55 titles in 11 categories have been named today (February 10) as finalists in the 2021 PEN America Literary Awards. They now are in contention for an aggregate purse of more than US$380,000. PEN America, of course, is the US affiliate chapter of PEN International.
An important and notably serious program among world publishing’s myriad awards programs each year, this series is also at times confusing because its sponsor-named categories vary widely in their nature and prize money. Some awards are funded for biennial presentation, rather than yearly.
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
NBCC Awards Finalists Announced Jan 24, 2021
On January 24, the National Book Critics Circle announced 30 finalists in six categories for its annual awards honoring the best books of the previous publishing year. The finalists were named at a virtual make-up ceremony celebrating the winners of last year s awards; although the winners were previously announced, last year s ceremony was canceled due to the pandemic.
In addition, finalists for the 2020 John Leonard Prize for Best First Book were announced, and winners were named for the $1,000 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing and the Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement. The winner of the Balakian Citation, recognizing outstanding work by a member of the NBCC, is the
Here s how Toronto bookstores are really doing during lockdown
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A Toronto bookstore is getting some love and actually doing better than expected during this current province-wide lockdown, which is nice to see at a time when small local businesses are struggling with restrictions.
Like bars and restaurants, Toronto book retailers that have been able to thrive have only done so through a willingness to be extremely adaptable. For example, combination bookstore, writing school and publisher Flying Books started doing free delivery and moved their classes online.