Live Breaking News & Updates on Words Writers Conference

Three novels and two short story collections are in the final running for the 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize, the nonprofit announced Wednesday.
The $35,000 annual award, now in its fourth year, goes to a work of fiction that “illuminates vital contemporary issues.”
The finalists are “Against the Loveless World” by Susan Abulhawa, “Leave the World Behind” by Rumaan Alam, “The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich, “The Office of Historical Corrections” by Danielle Evans and “If I Had Two Wings” by the late Randall Kenan.
The shortlisted titles address a broad range of important contemporary social issues, from the dissolution of indigenous lands to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the intersectionality of being Black and queer, as well as racism in America. They were culled from a previously announced long list of 15 titles. ....

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