Here Come the Judges!

August 1, 2024

We’re smack in the middle of the submission period for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, US & Canada, which seems like the right time to introduce you to this year’s panel of judges. Hailing from various literary realms, including academia, criticism, and independent bookselling, these half-dozen avid readers are eager to get their hands on the pile of books that’s coming their way.

They’re not intimidated by the countless hours they’ll be spending at their task, and they don’t fear eyestrain or paper cuts. Their only real difficulty will be winnowing many great books down to a few excellent ones, and then choosing a single winner. But we know they’re up to the challenge.

Read on to find out more about who these fine folks are, and take note of the recommendations they’ve made for small-press titles from previous years.

Luis Alberto Correa is general manager at White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Previously he was operations manager at Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia. He has served as a member of the American Bookseller Association (ABA) committee on diversity, equity and inclusion, chair for ABA's Indies Introduce, and juror for the 2022 Kirkus Prize for Fiction.

He recommends Cross-Stitch by Jazmina Barrera (trans. by Christina MacSweeney) from Two Lines Press, calling it “a delicate coming-of-age story that is both elegiac and an ode to craftwork, womanhood, and friendship. One of my favorite reads of the year.”

James Crossley has been an independent bookseller and staunch advocate for small presses and international literature for more than twenty years, including a stint as judge for the Best Translated Book Award. Until the end of 2023 he was the founding manager of Madison Books in Seattle, named by Publishers Weekly as one of the five best bookstores in the United States. He is now the proprietor of Leviathan Bookstore in St. Louis, which opened in 2024.

He recommends The Long Form by Kate Briggs from Dorothy, a Publishing Project, describing it as “a fictional account of the quotidian interactions between a new mother and her new baby that is also a commentary on what a novel is and what it is to write one. Philosophical and highly experimental, yet rife with living human moments, it advances the work of literary geniuses such as Virginia Woolf and Gertrude Stein.”

Lori Feathers is a writer and podcaster in Dallas, Texas, and a co-owner/founder of Interabang Books where she is the store’s book buyer. She co-hosts the critically acclaimed books podcast, Across the Pond, is founding Chair of the Republic of Consciousness Prize, US and Canada, a prize honoring the work of small publishers, and co-creator of the Inside Literary Prize for incarcerated persons. For six years she served on the elected board of the National Book Critics Circle.

She recommends Nonfiction by Julie Myerson from Tin House: “A riveting depiction of a middle-aged woman internalizing the disintegration of her daughter, her marriage, and her vital sense of self as a mother, wife, and writer. The narrator is a helpless witness as her teenage daughter succumbs to heroin addiction. The ugliness, fear, guilt, and shame that the situation imposes is raw and palpable in Myerson’s emotionally resonant prose.”

Rebekah Rine is the Buyer & Inventory Manager at Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, Kansas, after having worked in many roles throughout the store for over twenty years. Passionate about books and the people who read them, she loves nothing more than connecting readers with new and favorite writers. Rebekah has been involved in education throughout the industry and has been a recipient of the Booksellers Without Borders fellowship.

She recommends We’re Safe When We’re Alone by Nghiem Tran from Coffee House Press, saying “this thrilling debut novel reads like a mix of Shirley Jackson, Ryu Murakami, and a dash of Henrik Ibsen, with an isolated son, mysteriously controlling father, and ghosts all around. This take on the haunted house/coming of age story is an exciting introduction to a new author.”

Dorian Stuber is a writer and Professor of English at Hendrix College. His work has appeared in The Oxford American, On the Seawall, and Firmament, among other places. He blogs about his reading at Eiger, Monch & Jungfrau and co-hosts the One Bright Book podcast. He lives in Little Rock.

Dorian recommends The Future by Catherine Leroux (trans. by Susan Ouriou) from Biblioasis: “A woman arrives in an alternate Détroit, never abandoned by the French, after the death of her daughter and the disappearance of her granddaughters. The authorities—who barely function in the anarchic city state—aren’t interested in pursuing the matter, so the woman instead becomes part of a community that counters the shambles of the city’s civic life. The nearby park, returning to forest, is home to a camp of children: orphans, runaways, and others abandoned and abused by the adults who ought to have cared for them. Are Gloria’s granddaughters among them? Can the two communities come together? What kind of future can be made in the near-ruins of our own? An exuberant, moving, and thoughtful novel that deserves more readers.”

Chris Via’s work appears in Kenyon Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, 3:AM Magazine, Rain Taxi Review of Books, Splice, The Arts Fuse, and The Rupture. He contributed the afterword to Novel Explosives by Jim Gauer in 2021, and in 2018 won honorable mention for Grove Atlantic’s national book review competition of theMystery.doc, featured on Lit Hub. Chris also hosts the growing, literature-obsessed YouTube channel Leaf by Leaf. He holds a BA in computer science and an MA in humanities.

He recommends Bookworm: Conversations with Michael Silverblatt from The Song Cave: “Waiting for new episodes of Bookworm must be, I imagine, similar to what the eager readers of serialized Dickens and Tolstoy novels felt in the 19th century. Each talk contains the promise of a conversation that is disobedient to clichés, devoid of banter and filler, where thoughts about art are exchanged with vibrancy and depth. Bookworm reminds me that reading centers my life, and Michael’s words remind me that great books (and great conversations) are never finished when one turns the final page. Anyone with any interest in literature, from any perspective, will want this in their personal library.”

Chris has also recorded a great video intro to the prize and this year’s judging process. Check it out on his YouTube channel.

Don’t forget to send suggestions our way about potential prize-winners for next year. Full submission details can be found online at: www.republicofconsciousnessprize-usa.com/submissions). Entries must be finalized by August 30, 2024.

Please share this email with other interested readers to help spread the word about the remarkable work being produced by North American small presses!