Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury) and The First Woman by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (One World) are on the five-title shortlist for the 2021 Encore Award, given by the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) to the best second novel of the year. The judges for 2021 are Sian Cain, Nikita Lalwani, and Paul Muldoon. The winner of the £10,000 will be announced May 20, 2021. Each of the four other finalists will receive £500. For more information, see the RSL website. While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but