Jesmyn Ward is a finalist for the $50,000 Kirkus Prize

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Jesmyn Ward’s ghostly “Sing, Unburied, Sing” and Mohsin Hamid’s acclaimed novel about refugees “Exit West” were among the finalists Tuesday for the fourth annual Kirkus Prize.

Presented by the trade publication Kirkus Reviews, the prize includes six nominees each in the categories of fiction, nonfiction and young people’s literature. Winners for each category, to be announced Tuesday, receive $50,000.

Fiction nominees besides Ward and Hamid included the novels “The Ninth Hour” by Alice McDermott and “White Tears” by Hari Kunzru and a pair of story collections: “What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky,” by Lesley Nneka Arimah, and Carmen Maria Machado’s “Her Body and Other Parties.”

Nonfiction nominees were Jack E. Davis’ “The Gulf,” Patricia Lockwood’s “Priestdaddy,” Edward Dolnick’s “The Seeds of Life,” Valeria Luiselli’s “Tell Me How It Ends,” Michael Twitty’s “The Cooking Gene” and Laura Dassow Walls’ “Henry David Thoreau: A Life.”

In young people’s literature, Angie Thomas’ bestselling “The Hate U Give” was among the finalists. Others included were Jairo Buitrago’s “Walk With Me,” illustrated by Rafael Yockteng and translated by Elisa Amado; Lilli L’Arronge’s “Me Tall, You Small,” translated by Madeleine Stratford; Cao Wenxuan’s “Bronze and Sunflower,” translated by Helen Wang and illustrated by Meilo So; Karen English’s “It All Comes Down to This”; and Cherie Dimaline’s “The Marrow Thieves.”

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