The Chicago Review of Books is proud to announce the shortlist for the 2024 Chicago Review of Books (CHIRBy) Awards!
The CHIRBy Awards honor the best fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and short essays and stories that feature Chicago and our strong literary community. Eligible titles include works published between September 1, 2023 and September 1, 2024 that were either written by authors living in the Chicagoland area or titles in which Chicago plays a prominent role.
The winners in all four categories will be announced at the CHIRBy Awards! Save the date for Thursday, December 12 as we come together with StoryStudio Chicago and the brightest stars in publishing today at the Fine Arts Building to celebrate the past year in writing. Get your tickets today!
2024 FICTION SHORTLIST
The Divorcées
By Rowan Beaird
Flatiron Books
The Material
By Camille Bordas
Random House
The Body Farm
By Abby Geni
Counterpoint LLC
Wellness
By Nathan Hill
Knopf Publishing Group
Hot Springs Drive
By Lindsay Hunter
Roxane Gay Books
2024 NONFICTION SHORTLIST
Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change
By Ben Austen
Flatiron Books
The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City’s Soul
By Scott W. Berg
Pantheon Books
Chicago House Music: Culture and Community
By Marguerite L. Harrold
Belt Publishing
The Night Parade
By Jami Nakamura Lin
Mariner Books
The City is Up for Grabs: How Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Led and Lost a City in Crisis
By Gregory Royal Pratt
Chicago Review Press
2024 POETRY SHORTLIST
Yaguareté White
By Diego Báez
University of Arizona Press
The Murmuring Grief of the Americas
By Daniel Borzutzky
Coffee House Press
Absolute Animal
By Rachel DeWoskin
University of Chicago Press
The Span of a Small Forever
By April Gibson
Amistad Press
A Map of My Want
By Faylita Hicks
Haymarket Books
2024 Essay/Short Story Shortlist
“How Chicago’s Black Steelworkers Struggled, Thrived, and Survived the Industry’s Rise and Fall”
By Maxwell Evans
Block Club Chicago
“What $500 Means to Zinida Moore”
By Elly Fishman
Chicago
“After 25 years of selling tamales in Chicago, an undocumented immigrant mother returns to Mexico without her family”
By Laura Rodríguez Presa
Chicago Tribune
“Two train rides in November”
By Katie Prout
Chicago Reader
“Blaming migrants for Chicago’s problems is a historical trend”
By Shermann “Dilla” Thomas
The TRiiBE
2024 SHORTLIST JUDGES
Chair
Michael Welch, Editor-In-Chief
Booksellers
- Rebecca George, Volumes Bookcafe
- Wayne Giacalone, Madison Street Books
- Sarah Hollenbeck, Women & Children First
- Stephanie Kitchen, City Lit Books
- Mandy Medley, Pilsen Community Books
- Javier Ramirez, Exile in Bookville
- Suzy Takacs, The Book Cellar
- Timothy Wurman, Three Avenues Bookshop
Chicago Review of Books Staff
- Ian Battaglia, Daily Editor
- Mandana Chaffa, Editor-at-Large
- Sara Cutaia, Editor-in-Chief at Arcturus Magazine and CHIRB Editor-at-Large
- Rachel León, Managing Director
- Adam Morgan, Founding Editor
- Reema Saleh, Daily Editor
- Victor Ladis Schultz, Daily Editor
- Jen St. Jude, Editor-at-Large
- Greg Zimmerman, Daily Editor & Roscoe Books Bookseller
