Writers of African descent on Andrew Carnegie Medals 2022 longlists.

There are eight writers of African descent on the longlists for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction 2022 announced on October 18, 2021.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year in 2012. They are named in honor of nineteenth-century American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in recognition of his deep belief in the power of books and learning to change the world. It is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and administered by the American Library Association (ALA).

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction selection committee, appointed annually, includes Booklist editors or contributors, members of RUSA’s Collection Development and Evaluation Section’s (CODES) Notable Books Council, and a representative of the American Booksellers Association. Booklist Contributing Reviewer (Adult, Youth, Audio) and 2022 selection committee chair Terry Hong is joined by: Michael Cart, author or editor of 22 books who is also a Booklist columnist and reviewer based in Columbus, IN; Aryssa Damron, a Librarian for the DC Public Library system in Washington, D.C; Bill Kelly, Adult Programming Manager for Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library; Savannah Kitchens, Library Director for Parnell Memorial Library in Montevallo, Alabama; Sara Martínez, founding coordinator for Tulsa City-County (OK) Library’s Hispanic Resource Center and Manager of the library’s Nathan Hale branch; and Derrick A. Young, Owner and Co-Founder of Mahogany Books in Washington, D.C.

The longlists for this year feature the following writers of African descent;

Fiction

• Nathan Harris, The Sweetness of Water (Little, Brown)
• Damon Galgut, The Promise (Europa)
• Jason Mott, Hell of a Book (Dutton)
• Leila Slimani, In the Country of Others (Penguin)

Nonfiction

• Hanif Abdurraqib, A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance (Random House)
• Ibram X. Kendi, and Keisha N. Blain, Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619–2019 (Ballantine)
• Heather McGhee, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (One World)
• Winfred Rembert, Chasing Me to My Grave: Memoir of the Jim Crow South (Bloomsbury)

“Our committee is thrilled to mark the 10th anniversary of the Andrew Carnegie Medals with such a superb longlist,” enthused Terry Hong. “We believe our expansive titles educate and illuminate, probe and challenge, entertain and delight, and even provide antidotes for the difficulties many of us have faced and might continue to endure during these strange times. Books, indeed, can save lives—not to mention nurture our humanity while preserving our sanity.”

The six-title shortlist—three each for the fiction and nonfiction medals—will be chosen from longlist titles and announced on November 8, 2021. The two medal winners will be announced on Sunday, January 23^rd, 2022. The celebratory event, including presentations by the winners and a featured speaker, will take place at the 2022 ALA Annual Conference in June 2022.