Chicago Review of Books Reveals Finalists for 2026 CHIRBy Awards

Michael Welch, editor-in-chief of the Chicago Review of Books, noted the growth of the literary community since the publication's founding a decade ago, describing it as a renaissance. He stated, "The CHIRBy Awards brings together authors, booksellers, readers, and community advocates to celebrate the writers who are showing the world the diversity and depth of our storytelling here in Chicago."

Nominees are voted on by staff of the Chicago Review of Books and local booksellers. Eligible writers must either reside in the Chicago area or have works closely tied to the city.

The nominees for the 2026 CHIRBy Awards are:

**Fiction:**

“Tenderness” by Rowan Beaird (Flatiron Books)

“Kaplan’s Plot” by Jason Diamond (Flatiron Books)

“The Hitch” by Sara Levine (Roxane Gay Books)

“Every Exit Brings You Home” by Naeem Murr (W.W. Norton & Company)

“It Came From Neverland” by Cynthia Pelayo (Crooked Lane Books)

“Man Overboard!” by Kathleen Rooney (Gallery Books)

“Majestic Hills” by Dawn Turner (Scribner)

**Nonfiction:**

“No Stars in Jefferson Park” by Maggie Andersen (Northwestern University Press)

“Body Weather: Notes on Chronic Illness in the Anthropocene” by Lorraine Boissoneault (Beacon Press)

“Great Lake: An Unnatural History of Lake Michigan” by Theodore J. Karamanski (University of Michigan Regional)

“Partially Devoured: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life and Changed the World” by Daniel Kraus (Counterpoint)

“Fire and Clay: How Bricks Reveal the Hidden History of Chicago” by Will Quam (University of Chicago Press)

**Poetry:**

“E” by Noa Micaela Fields (Nightboat Books)

“The Bronze Arms” by Richie Hofmann (Knopf)

“Be Easy” by Adrian Matejka (Liveright Publishing Corporation)

“Bisquick: An American Seance” by C. Russell Price (Triquarterly Books)

“Orange” by Noel Quiñones (CavanKerry Press)

**Essay/Narrative Journalism:**

“The Case for a Parking Revolt” by Tal Rosenberg in Chicago Magazine

“The last days of Legion Park, before the city swept it” by Katie Prout in Chicago Reader

“Inside the Chicago Courier Classic, bike messenger culture refuses to die” by Andrew Stojkovich in Chicago Reader

“Chicago Under Siege: How Operation Midway Blitz Changed Our City” by Francia García Hernández, Madison Savedra, and Block Club Chicago Staff in Block Club Chicago

“Chicago, ICE, and the Lie of the American Pastoral” by Lauren Michele Jackson in The New Yorker

Winners in all four categories will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, December 3, at 6:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Fine Arts Building, located at 410 S. Michigan Ave. It is free to the public, but prior reservations are required.