The Boston Globe published a rave review of Samantha Hunt’s lauded nonfiction debut, THE UNWRITTEN BOOK. Reviewer Priscilla Gilman writes: “Author of the brilliant short story collection THE DARK DARK (2017) and the wonderfully odd and moving novel MR. SPLITFOOT (2016), Samantha Hunt is one of our most interesting and bold writers…THE UNWRITTEN BOOK [is] a characteristically wild effort that defies genre distinctions, flits from the profound to the mundane with fierce intelligence and searching restlessness, and at its best, delves deep into the recesses of the human heart with courageous abandon… THE UNWRITTEN BOOK ponders and enacts this art of losing with an intoxicating blend of humor and pathos.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book on April 5, 2022.

Jordan Castro’s debut novel THE NOVELIST, received glowing reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Publishers Weekly praises the novel as a “meticulous accounting of a day in the life of a struggling Baltimore novelist,” adding that “[s]truggling creative types will undoubtedly see themselves in this confident and surprising chronicle.” Meanwhile, Booklist calls the book “a confident, unique take on autofiction, a form that lends itself well to Castro’s focus on the endless distractions of modern life, and it is hilarious and enthralling, to boot.” Soft Skull will publish THE NOVELIST on June 14, 2022.

Roxane Gay continues to laud Rio Cortez’s forthcoming debut poetry collection, GOLDEN AX. In a Goodreads review, Gay praised the collection as “outstanding,”adding: “The poetry in these pages is intelligent, lyrical, as invested in the past as the present and future with witty nods to pop culture.” The collection also received a glowing blurb from Ross Gay, which reads: “I love—I mean, I love this book—for its sensuous, chiseled language; ...for its weird and brainy sense of humor; for its palpable yearning and need; and for its entangled, complicated, unfixable, and unfixing blackness... I am so grateful for this book, and this voice, and this heart, in the world.” Penguin Books will publish GOLDEN AX on August 30, 2022.

James Han Mattson’s celebrated psychological thriller REPRIEVE was shortlisted for the 32nd Annual Reading the West Book Award, in the Fiction category. The winners will be announced on June 7 via a virtual ceremony on Zoom. William Morrow published REPRIEVE on October 5, 2021.

THE MOVEMENT MADE US by David Dennis, Jr. in collaboration with his father, David Dennis, Sr., is accumulating a wealth of great press in the weeks leading up to its publication. The book received a starred review from Library Journal, where reviewer Ahliah Bratzler praises: “This memoir of survival is critical to understanding the movement from the perspective of the people on the ground. Moving, evocative, and haunting, this father-son perspective on the civil rights movement is a necessary read and a great addition for all library collections.” Meanwhile, The Atlantic published a moving essay adapted from the book, titled “The Day the Civil Rights Movement Changed: What my father saw in Mississippi.” Harper will publish THE MOVEMENT MADE US on May 10, 2022.

Publishers Weekly wrote a glowing review of COLLECTION PLATE author Kendra Allen’s forthcoming memoir, FRUIT PUNCH. The review praises the memoir as a “wholly original and unsparing work,” adding: “Allen’s prowess comes through in her blunt rendering of the powerlessness she struggled against as a Black woman navigating race and sexuality in the South… Indeed, the narrative rarely lets up in its frank or discomfiting depictions, but it yields a refreshingly authentic look at what it means to create oneself in a contradictory world.” Ecco will publish the book on August 9, 2022.

SIRENS & MUSES by Antonia Angress was awarded a starred review from Publishers Weekly. The reviewer praises: “A quartet of artists negotiate love, ambition, and politics during the 2011 Occupy movement in Angress’s winning debut…Angress sweeps everything toward a wonderfully complex conclusion. This is a standout.” Ballantine Books will publish the novel on July 12, 2022.

HOW YOU GET FAMOUS by Nicole Pasulka received a starred review from Booklist. Reviewer Emily Dziuban writes: “Like its subjects, this first book by journalist Pasulka is a national treasure. Authentically, sensitively, and expansively recording the personal and sociopolitical realities of drag in Brooklyn from 2011 to 2021, this compendium preserves the people, places, and evolving culture that made drag famous…The book’s impressively broad lens is matched by its zoom-in on the details of drag. Readers will learn drag-specific lexicon and cultural competencies that make this subculture unlike any other and influential beyond any expectations.” Simon & Schuster will publish the book on June 7, 2022.

The Irish Times wrote a glowing review for VERY COLD PEOPLE by Sarah Manguso. Reviewer Mary O’Donnell writes: “Manguso has written a delicately controlled, subtle novel which never shouts its horror. The tone is understated, the writing etched and therefore powerful. Gradually, memorably, she reveals the vipers in the social and familial undergrowth.” Hogarth published the novel on February 8, 2022.

Rebecca Stott’s debut novel DARK EARTH received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. They rave: “Stott follows up the memoir IN THE DAYS OF RAIN with an impressive narrative set in the aftermath of the Roman Empire…Stott concretely captures the brutality of the women’s world, their deep resourcefulness, and the power of the stories that sustain and endanger them. This is a memorable achievement.” Random House will publish the novel on July 19, 2022.