✨APPLY NOW ✨ It’s been a minute since we’ve posted about our partner program! Do you love being considered the literary tastemaker of your friend group? Do you like sharing your hot takes online? Does the thought of reading a book before anyone else excite you?
If you responded “yes” to all of those questions, we want you on our partner list! 📚 Hit the 🔗 in our bio to apply now before our next email goes out this Friday.
Check out the FAQ & let us know if you have any questions!
#bookstagram #partnerprogram #catapultbooks #counterpoint #softskullpress
Congratulations to @jordansalama19 for being named a @samirohrprize finalist in the nonfiction category for his book STRANGER IN THE DESERT! 🏅
As the premier award in the world of Jewish publishing, the Sami Rohr Prize recognizes the unique role of contemporary writers in the examination and transmission of the Jewish experience.
In Sarah Aziza’s affecting memoir, The Hollow Half, we are taken on a journey that confounds categories and reimagines the tug of home. Through Aziza’s honest reporting of her struggles with disordered eating, to the tangled family history of Palestinian displacement and tenacious belonging, The Hollow Half is a model of memoir as an act of translation—a powerful attempt to write oneself into wholeness by confronting the shattered history of a culture and community divided by war, displacement, and occupation.
Read more about 2026 AWBA Memoir winner, The Hollow Half, through the link in our bio!
BIG NEWS! You can now preorder a signed paperback copy of @xbennyboo 's HOT GIRLS WITH BALLS from @booksaremagicbk ! Head over to the 🔗 in our bio to grab yours now 📚 ✨ 💖 🏐 🔥 Offer ends on 7/7.
Happy publication day to @uchenna_awoke 's A SIEGE OF OWLS! 🦉
A SIEGE OF OWLS is an urgent and unforgettable work of magical realism following a young man coming of age in rural West Africa as he bears witness to the violence, upheaval, and hope in a rapidly changing society.
🦉 "A SIEGE OF OWLS is a masterpiece . . . If mythmaking—that is, mythmaking the becoming or unbecoming of our country—is Awoke’s goal in writing this novel, he immensely succeeds in mythologising the aggressive extremities of our times. And it’s all captured in a near pitch-perfect prose with lyrical undertones." — @afrocritik
🦉 "Awoke weaves his immersive and lyrical tale with folklore and vivid scenes of real-world violence. This one hits hard." — @publisherswkly (starred 🌟 review)
🦉 "A haunting, evocative exploration of growth and destiny that truly lingers long after the last page is finally turned. This vibrant tale is not to be missed." — @ala_booklist
#bookstagram #indiepress #newbooktuesday #africanlit #africanauthor
Thank you to @booksandbooks for hosting our No Contact book tour event in Miami. What a beautiful bookstore, with a delightful courtyard in the middle!
I was so excited to connect with contributors @deeshaphilyaw and Soni Brown (@papinewritingcollective ), and moderator @ivonnelamazares in person. These women are not only brilliant writers but compelling conversationalists.
We discussed nuances of family estrangement that hadn’t yet been explored on tour, including the immigrant and Black experience of family rupture, the process of repair when we’re on the other side of “no contact,” the impact of diaspora on the family structure, the importance of sociocultural context in considering the so-called “trend” of estrangement, and more. It was a fascinating conversation and I learned a lot. Very grateful to these three beautiful humans for engaging with me in this public forum! ❤️
I forgot to take an audience pic except for the early arrival one included here. It was a more intimate crowd than what we’ve had in other cities, but a deeply engaged group. I loved meeting @jorgie_boo_boo too! 😍
Thank you, Miami! Onward.
"As a debut author, I see this as a mantel I am going to carry foward for the rest of my career and hopefully continue to live up to the legacy and the mission of this organization."
Learn more about the 2026 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Memoir winner, Sarah Aziza through this month's Anisfield-Wolf Book Club.
On this celebratory Sunday, I recommend reading this excerpt from “Mother’s Day” by @writercasslewis in @oprahdaily for an insight into complicated mother-child relationships and why estrangement is sometimes necessary.
The full essay, along with many others, can be found in the bestselling anthology No Contact: Writers on Estrangement, edited by @jenny.bartoy , out now from @catapult and available anywhere books are sold!
Read the excerpt here:
/life/wholeness/a70965783/mothers-day-estrangement/
Order No Contact here:
https://books.catapult.co/books/no-contact/
Last minute Mother’s Day gift recs for your mom, yourself, a mom-to-be, and anyone in between 💐
#mothersday #bookrecs #bookstagram #bookclub #indiepress
No Contact is a bestseller! Thank you to indie booksellers across the country and of course to all you lovely readers. I hope this book shifts the conversation about family estrangement and hopefully changes some lives too. So excited about this news! Support your local bookshop. 😘
We’re number 13 for last week. You can see the rankings here (PDF): /s/independentpresstop40nonfiction-t7f9.pdf
Sarah Aziza is a Palestinian American writer, translator, and artist with roots in ‘Ibdis and Deir al-Balah, Gaza. The recipient of a Fulbright fellowship and numerous grants from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, she has lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Jordan, South Africa, the West Bank, and the United States. Her award-winning journalism, poetry, essays, and experimental nonfiction have appeared in The New Yorker, The Baffler, Harper’s Magazine, Mizna, Lux, The Washington Post, The Intercept, The Rumpus, NPR, The Margins, and The Nation, among other publications.
Explore more about her Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards winning Memoir, "The Hollow Half" during this month's Anisfield-Wolf Book Club!
Please join us for a virtual event for playwright and novelist Lauren J. Joseph (@lauren_j_joseph )! She will be discussing her newest novel, "Lean Cat, Savage Cat" (by @catapult ). Lauren will be joined in conversation by Torrey Peters (@torreyadora ), bestselling author of "Detransition, Baby" and Pulitzer Finalist "Stag Dance". This event will include audience Q&A.
This event will take place on Zoom on Saturday, June 27th at 11am PT. The event is free to attend, but registration is required. When registering for the event, you will have the option to order books by both authors for delivery (Portland, OR only) or shipping (US only) to support the authors and the store.
Check out the link in our bio to register. We can't wait to see you there!
#IndieBookstore #AuthorEvents #TransBooks #PrideEvent #Portland #QueerBooks #VirtualEvent
Photo Credits:
Lauren J. Joseph's headshot is by Robin Christian
Torrey Peters's headshot is by Hunter Abrams
