For the fifth year in a row, the Chicago Review of Books is thrilled to present the CHIRBy Awards to recognize the best fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and short essays published by Chicago-based writers.

Below are the finalists in each category for 2020, along with a list of this year’s judges. Congratulations to all of these incredible writers!

Starting Sunday, November 29, we’ll be posting short excerpts from the nominees reading from their work. The winners in each category will be announced at a virtual ceremony on December 3rd. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here. All funds raised will help support the Chicago Review of Books. Hope to see you there!

2020 FICTION SHORTLIST

Everywhere You Don't Belong
By Gabriel Bump
Algonquin Books

Stateway's Garden
By Jasmon Drain
Random House

Pew
By Catherine Lacey
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The Beauty of Your Face
By Sahar Mustafah
W. W. Norton & Company

The Lost Book of Adana Moreau
By Michael Zapata
Hanover Square Press

2020 NONFICTION SHORTLIST

Having and Being Had
By Eula Biss
Riverhead Books

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot
By Mikki Kendall
Viking

Golem Girl: A Memoir
By Riva Lehrer
One World

Between Everything and Nothing: The Journey of Seidu Mohammed and Razak Iyal and the Quest for Asylum
By Joe Meno
Counterpoint LLC

Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir
By Natasha Trethewey
Ecco Press

2020 POETRY SHORTLIST

Two Menus
By Rachel DeWoskin
University of Chicago Press

American Gun: A Poem by 100 Chicagoans edited
By Chris Green
Big Shoulders Books

Too Much Midnight
By Krista Franklin
Haymarket Books

Central Air
By Mike Puican
Triquarterly Books

So Forth
By Rosanna Warren
W. W. Norton & Company

2020 ESSAY SHORTLIST

"Ode to a Chicago Public School: The lessons learned in CPS go beyond what’s taught in the classroom"
By Nina Li Coomes
Chicago Reader

"What Happened July 17? A document of the conflict in Grant Park"
By Jim Daley, Martha Bayne, and Jason Schumer; Web interactive by Bea Malsky
South Side Weekly

"For Decades, Chicago’s Black Cowboys Have Kept An Overlooked History Alive. Now, Thanks To Lil Nas X, People Are Paying Attention"
By Maxwell Evans
Block Club Chicago

"The Coyote’s Dance"
by Austin Gilkeson
Tin House

"When Reporting on Movement Actions, Revolutionary Joy Must be Given the Same Space as the Struggle"
By Matt Harvey
The Triibe

2020 JUDGES

Chair
Amy Brady, CHIRB Editor-in-Chief

Rebecca George, Volumes Bookcafe
Thomas Flynn, Volumes Bookcafe
Sarah Hollenbeck, Women & Children First
Jeff Deutsch, Seminary Co-op and 57th Street Books
Wayne Giacalone, RoscoeBooks
DL Mullen, Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery
Adam Morgan, CHIRB Founding Editor
Todd Van Luling, CHIRB Executive Editor
Sara Batkie, CHIRB Managing Editor
Sarah Blakley-Cartwright, CHIRB Publishing Director
Julia Swearingen, CHIRB Art Director
Sara Cutaia, Editor-in-Chief at Arcturus Magazine and CHIRB Editor-at-Large
Taylor Moore, CHIRB contributor
Ian. J. Battaglia, CHIRB Daily Editor
Jen Cox, CHIRB Daily Editor
Clancey D'Isa, CHIRB Daily Editor
Dana Dunham, CHIRB Daily Editor
Michael Welch, CHIRB Daily Editor

Features