Congratulations to the following UNP authors who were finalists for the 2024 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards! “This year’s submissions have truly impressed me with their depth and diversity. Each finalist stands as a testament to the remarkable talent and vision within the independent publishing world. The INDIES not only celebrates these exceptional literary works but also plays a pivotal role in connecting them with librarians and booksellers, ensuring that a rich variety of voices continues to thrive in the world.” said Christopher Nesbit, INDIES Award Director.

Winners in each genre, along with Editor’s Choice Prize winners and Foreword’s Indie Publisher of the Year, will be announced in June 2025.

Adult Fiction

Literary Fiction and Multicultural Fiction:

Inside the Mirror (Nebraska, 2024) by Parul Kapur. In 1950s Bombay, Jaya Malhotra studies medicine at the direction of her father, a champion of women’s education who assumes the right to choose his daughters’ vocations. A talented painter drawn to the city’s dynamic new modern art movement, Jaya is driven by her desire to express both the pain and extraordinary force of life of a nation rising from the devastation of British rule. Her twin sister, Kamlesh, a passionate student of Bharata Natyam dance, complies with her father’s decision that she become a schoolteacher while secretly pursuing forbidden dreams of dancing onstage and in the movies. Jaya’s story encompasses art, history, political revolt, love, and women’s ambition to seize their own power.

General Fiction:

The Scent of Distant Family (Bison Books, 2024) by sid sibo. Set against the backdrop of a remote location in the throes of rapid development, Nik Delaney leaves a respected career in wildlife biology to return home to Wyoming. In the Rocky Mountain winter, every relationship Nik has wears even thinner as she cares for her aging father, faces a crumbling marriage, and parents Finn, the son of her antagonistic brother. Then Zolo, her foster dog, runs away. Nik’s search for Zolo in the vast and unforgiving landscape introduces her to the eccentric residents of the high sagebrush. This story of loyalty and deception in western Wyoming expands our sense of who we choose to consider family.

Adult Nonfiction

History:

The Chief Rabbi’s Funeral: The Untold Story of America’s Largest Antisemitic Riot (Potomac Books, 2024) by Scott D. Seligman. On July 30, 1902, tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of New York’s Lower East Side to bid farewell to the city’s chief rabbi, the eminent Talmudist Jacob Joseph. All went well until the procession crossed Sheriff Street, where the six-story R. Hoe and Company printing press factory towered over the intersection. Without warning, scraps of steel, iron bolts, and scalding water rained down and injured hundreds of mourners, courtesy of antisemitic factory workers. Scott D. Seligman’s The Chief Rabbi’s Funeral is the first book-length account of this event and its aftermath.

Reference and Self-Help:

Acetylene Torch Songs: Writing True Stories to Ignite the Soul (Nebraska, 2024) by Sue William Silverman. At times writers—from the unpublished to jaded lifers—need a fire lit under them to pursue the complex work of self-exploration. Acetylene Torch Songs provides that spark for memoirists and essayists seeking mentor-based instruction and inspiration. Through guided prompts, worksheets, checklists, publishing advice, personal essays, and strategies, Silverman encourages writers to find the confidence and courage to write stories that reach beyond the page through their intimacy, social engagement, and honesty.

Congratulations to all the finalists!