Tomi Obaro’s debut DELE WEDS DESTINY continues to be one of this summer’s most anticipated books. The Washington Post featured it on its list of “10 noteworthy books for June,” praising: “Obaro’s writing gives richness and depth to female friendship, depicting the beauty of bonds that last a lifetime.” DELE WEDS DESTINY was also featured on Bustle’s most-anticipated list for June. Knopf will publish the novel on June 28, 2022.

HADES, ARGENTINA by Daniel Loedel is one of 3 finalists for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for 2022. Riverhead Books published the novel on January 12, 2021.

THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV by Dawnie Walton is one of 3 finalists for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for 2022. 37 Ink published the novel on March 30, 2021.

Kendra Allen’s memoir FRUIT PUNCH received a glowing review from Booklist. The reviewer writes: “Allen bestows a fresh literary voice on this memoir filled with humor, honesty, and thought-provoking truth…With admirable and inspiring vulnerability, Allen brings readers along in her journey to understand her very makeup.” Ecco will publish the book on August 9, 2022.

Liska Jacobs’s forthcoming novel THE PINK HOTEL received a strong review from Booklist, which reads: “Jacobs' third novel is over the top in pretty much every way – there's a literal luncheon for couture-clad dogs – an orgiastic quasi-dystopia so sensuously described you might be watching it unfold on Instagram.” THE PINK HOTEL is also one of Lit Hub’s most anticipated books of this summer. Lit Hub CrimeReads Senior Editor Molly Odintz raves: “This is the perfect book to recommend to all your friends in hospitality!!! And also just the perfect book. I tore through this one like a California wildfire—an appropriate comparison, given the novel’s setting in a high-end hotel beset by fires all around.” MCD will publish the book on July 19, 2022.

SIRENS & MUSES by Antonia Angress received a starred review from Library Journal, in which reviewer Barbara Hoffert praises the novel as “a brilliant study of art, politics, male dominance, female passion, and the commercialized art world in the early 2010s” and “[a] highly recommended novel of art and heart.” Meanwhile, BuzzFeed News included SIRENS & MUSES on its roundup of summer must-reads. BuzzFeed Contributor David Vogel writes: “Writing about being an artist can be tough…but Angress has done this delicately and with flair in her astounding debut...Gripping, provocative, and supremely entertaining, [SIRENS & MUSES] is one to watch out for.” Ballantine Books will publish the novel on July 12, 2022.

Cleyvis Natera’s debut novel NERUDA ON THE PARK received stunning praise from The New York Times Book Review. Reviewer Mia Alvar praises it as “earnest [and] provocative,” adding: “[L]ove – profound, mundane, imperfect – so warmly suffuses the book its pages practically glow with it…Natera’s style is refreshingly direct and declarative, and at its best, this approach feels confident and sharp, a mirror capturing the bleak comedies of life in a threatened community…NERUDA ON THE PARK avoids pat answers, but tenderly and thoughtfully invites readers to weigh our own obligations to the places and people who made us. Ballantine Books published the novel on May 24, 2022.

Tomi Obaro sat down for an interview with The Bookseller to discuss her upcoming debut novel DELE WEDS DESTINY, which interviewer Grace Shutti praises as “cleverly” and “skillfully” written. Obaro spoke about the “pageantry of a certain kind of very opulent Nigerian wedding,” and her enthusiasm for the “direction Nigerian fiction is taking”: “For so long there’s been a certain kind of Nigerian mentality of achieving excellence and a very narrow definition of what that means: literary fiction and prestige in a certain way. So just to see more genres is exciting.” Knopf will publish the book on June 28, 2022.

THE PROPHETS by Robert Jones, Jr. is a finalist for the 2022 Chautauqua Prize, which aims to “celebrate a book that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and to honor the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts.” The Chautauqua Institution praises THE PROPHETS as a “stunning work” that “fearlessly reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.” The winner will be announced in early June. G.P. Putnam’s Sons published the book on January 5, 2021.

Time Magazine featured Rebecca Rukeyser’s debut novel THE SEAPLANE ON FINAL APPROACH on its list of must-read titles for this summer, praising it as “a snappy character study and a meditation on sleaziness.” Doubleday will publish the novel on June 7, 2022.