The shortlist has been selected for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada, which honors "the commitment of independent presses to fiction of exceptional literary merit." The winner of the prize, which has separate judges and prizes from the U.K. award of the same name, will be announced March 12.
A total of $35,000 will be distributed to the presses, authors, and translators. Each press included in the longlist receives $2,000. The shortlisted books will be awarded an additional $3,000 each, split equally between the publisher and author, or publisher, author, and translator, where applicable. The shortlisted books and their independent presses are:
Like a Sky Inside by Jakuta Alikavazovic, translated by Daniel Levin Becker (Fern Books)
Melvill by Rodrigo Fresán, translated by Will Vanderhyden (Open Letter)
Lesser Ruins by Mark Haber (Coffee House Press)
The Case of Cem by Vera Mutafchieva, translated by Angela Rodel (Sandorf Passage)
Your Absence Is Darkness by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, translated by Philip Roughton (Biblioasis)
Founder of the prize and jury chair Lori Feathers said: "After enthusiastic debate and discussion our Prize jury made the difficult decision to advance these five remarkable books from our longlist. We celebrate the small presses, languages, and perspectives that this shortlist represents."
A Zoom party celebrating the longlist with publishers, authors, and translators took place on February 19. To view it, click here.