The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award announced THE PROPHETS by Robert Jones, Jr. as one of 20 debut novels to make the award’s 2022 longlist. The award “honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. Symbolized by a three-dimensional compass, the award is a tribute to writers who have navigated their way through the maze of imagination and delivered a great read, taking the reader someplace new.” G.P. Putnam’s Sons published the novel on January 5, 2021.