Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards name first-ever shortlist for 2025

• The awards were founded in 1935 by poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf and continue to be managed by the Cleveland Foundation.

The intrigue: In years past, only winners have been announced. For the first time in 2025, the jury has chosen to unveil a short list to recognize additional titles from more than 300 submissions.

What they're saying: "This year's finalists embody the Anisfield-Wolf legacy of fearless writing that compels us to reckon with history and reimagine the future," AWBA jury chair Natasha Trethewey said in a press release.

Zoom in: The finalists include works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and memoir/autobiography.

• Janice Harrington, "Yard Show"
• Tessa Hulls, "Feeding Ghosts"
• John Swanson Jacobs, edited by Jonathan D. S. Schroeder, "The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots"
• Sarah Lewis, "The Unseen Truth"
• Susan Muaddi Darraj, "Behind You Is the Sea"

• Emily Raboteau, "Lessons for Survival: Mothering Against 'the Apocalypse'"
• Kiley Reid, "Come and Get It"
• Danzy Senna, "Colored Television"
• Adam Shatz, "The Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon"
• Danez Smith, "Bluff"

What's next: Winners will be announced April 10 at a Writers Center Stage event.

• Tommy Orange, who won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his 2018 debut novel, "There There," will unveil the winners after a conversation with writer Kaveh Akbar.