The Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada has revealed its longlist, with 10 books in contention for the award that celebrates “the commitment of small presses to exceptional works of literary merit.”
Dreaming of Dead People by Rosalind Belben (And Other Stories) made the longlist, as did Little Lazarus by Michael Bible (CLASH Books); Little World by Josephine Rowe (Transit Books); and Iris and the Dead by Miranda Schreiber (Book*hug Press).
Mahreen Sohail’s Small Scale Sinners (A Public Space Books) was longlisted, alongside Austyn Wohlers’ Hothouse Bloom (Hub City Press) and Sarah Yahm’s Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation (Dzanc Books).
Three books in translation made the list: The Remembered Soldier, written by Anjet Daanje and translated by David McKay (New Vessel Press); On Earth as It Is Beneath, written by Ana Paula Maia and translated by Padma Viswanathan (Charco Press); and The Endless Week, written by Laura Vazquez and translated by Alex Niemi (Dorothy, a publishing project).
Each publisher with a book on the longlist will receive a $2,000 award. For each of the five books on the shortlist, to be revealed on Feb. 24, the sum of $3,000 will be divided equally among the publisher, author, and, if applicable, translator.
The Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada, the North American iteration of a U.K. award, was established in 2022 by bookseller and critic Lori Feathers. The prize’s previous winners are God’s Children Are Little Broken Things, written by Arinze Ifeakandu (A Public Space Books); Lojman, written by Ebru Ojen and translated by Aron Aji and Selin Gökçesu (City Lights); and Melvill, written by Rodrigo Fresán and translated by Will Vanderhyden (Open Letter Books).
The winner of the prize will be announced on March 10.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
