James Spooner’s THE HIGH DESERT received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. The reviewer raves: “Spooner, the filmmaker behind the Afro-Punk documentary and festivals, debuts with a graphic memoir as abrasive and revelatory as his chosen music…[T]his grabbing, angsty coming-of-age tale offers a sidewalk view of a creative subculture. It’s also a poignant ode to the power of music to fill voids left by family and circumstance, with provocations thrumming on race and identity that sound out like a smashed guitar.” Harper will publish the book on May 17, 2022.

Samantha Hunt’s highly-anticipated nonfiction debut THE UNWRITTEN BOOK received a flurry of outstanding press following its publication. In a rave review for the Los Angeles Times, WHAT MY MOTHER AND I DON’T TALK ABOUT author Michele Filgate writes: “To attempt to categorize THE UNWRITTEN BOOK is to diminish the effect of reading it. Hunt studied geology, and her fascination with the bedrock of the natural world overlaps with her elemental love of storytelling…THE UNWRITTEN BOOK is by turns mesmerizing, philosophical and funny.” The New York Times ran a profile on Hunt titled “A Novelist Revisits Her ‘Haunted’ Childhood Home,” in which Hunt shared: “My father liked puzzle books and tricks and games…so he would be happy to think that something strange happened with his work.” Esquire featured the book on its list of “The Best Books of Spring 2022,” praising Hunt as “[o]ne of our most gifted practitioners of the short story” and the book itself as “[e]erie, profound, and daring…a book only the inimitable Hunt could write.” Lastly, Hunt sat down for an interview with BOMB Magazine about her writing process. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux published the book on April 5, 2022.

Tanaïs sat down for an interview with Harper’s Bazaar about their nonfiction debut, IN SENSORIUM. Reviewer Mathangi Subramanian writes: “In times like these, writers like Tanaïs matter more. Whether it’s through authoring critically acclaimed queer fiction with their novel BRIGHT LINES, successfully navigating the overwhelmingly straight, white perfume industry, or speaking truth to power on social media, Tanaïs carves out space for the rest of us. Their latest book, IN SENSORIUM, continues in this tradition, interweaving the science of perfumery, the voices of freedom-fighting Bangladeshi femmes, and the author’s own experiences as a queer Muslim writer into a narrative that fearlessly envisions liberation. It is, in short, the balm we have always needed.” Harper published the book on February 22, 2022.

Oprah Daily featured Tomi Obaro's highly-anticipated debut novel DELE WEDS DESTINY on its list of “22 of the Best New Books to Welcome Spring,” praising the book’s “richly entertaining foundation.” Knopf will publish the book on June 28, 2022.

Ella King’s forthcoming psychological thriller BAD FRUIT is among Library Journal’s list of “Top Spring/Summer Debuts: 39 Titles to Know.” Astra House will publish the novel on August 23, 2022.

FRUIT PUNCH, the forthcoming memoir by COLLECTION PLATE author Kendra Allen, earned strong praise from Kirkus. They write: “Throughout, the author uses prose inventively, employing vernacular language, nontraditional line breaks, nonlinear chronology, and deliberate obfuscation about her age…Allen’s rendering of the material is visceral and unique, and her insights are powerful…A piercing coming-of-age narrative from an original voice.” Ecco will publish the memoir on August 9, 2022.

Antonia Angress’ forthcoming novel SIRENS & MUSES was featured on Library Journal’s list of “Top Spring/Summer Debuts: 39 Titles to Know,” where they praise: “Art and politics here enhance each other in liquid, luminous language.” SIRENS & MUSES has also received stunning blurbs from a rarified group of authors, including THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV author Dawnie Walton (“SIRENS & MUSES features characters as flawed as they are talented—full of desire, ambition, and aching regret. Their journeys engrossed me till the very last page”), THE REVISIONERS author Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (“Powerful, elegant, and mesmerizing, SIRENS & MUSES reimagines ambition, passion, identity, and the intricate bonds between women. Antonia Angress is a writer to watch”), and THE SUN COLLECTIVE author Charles Baxter (“Brilliant…This narrative is intricate, moving, and often funny, and its scenes are beautifully crafted…A wonderful book”). Ballantine Books will publish the novel on July 12, 2022.

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award announced HADES, ARGENTINA by Daniel Loedel 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.” Riverhead Books published the novel on January 12, 2021.

Publishers Weekly reviewed HOW YOU GET FAMOUS by Nicole Pasulka, praising: “Journalist Pasulka debuts with an entertaining deep dive into the last decade of the Brooklyn drag scene…LGBTQ history buffs and fans of [RUPAUL’S] DRAG RACE will be hard-pressed to find a more in-depth look at the drag explosion of the 2010s.” Simon & Schuster will publish the book on June 7, 2022.

WHO WILL PAY REPARATIONS ON MY SOUL? author Jesse McCarthy is a 2022 Whiting Award winner. The selection committee writes: “Jesse McCarthy’s thought arrows through time periods, belief systems, literary movements, and aesthetics. His observations on the intersections of history, pop culture, and Black personhood roll over us like an incoming storm of gorgeous sentences. He is not afraid to stake out arguments and hold positions, but he is more interested in exploration than in polemic and wants above all to honor political and literary complexity. These are clutch-your-throat essays, revelatory, resonant, and uncompromising. Dazzling is the only word.” Liveright published the book on March 30, 2021.