Here's the shortlist of books up for the 2022 Indiana Authors Awards

Forty books have made the shortlist for the 2022 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Awards, the competition that honors the best books by Hoosiers. Indiana Humanities, which runs the competition with support from Glick Philanthropies, announced the list Thursday. The winners will be revealed Aug. 24.

The books, which were published in 2020 and 2021, are spread across eight literary categories, which include fiction, nonfiction, debut and poetry. The authors include current residents of the state and those who used to live here and retain Hoosier roots. Among their books' topics are deeply personal coming-of-age memoirs, Hoosier heroes, poetry that speaks to protests and isolation, and love stories that overcome challenges. Judges included former winners, writers, educators, scholars, bookstore owners and librarians.

The awards happen every two years, allowing those honored time to tour and connect with readers and educators throughout the state. Glick Philanthropies established the awards in 2009 with The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation. In 2019, Indiana Humanities and Glick announced that the former would helm the awards moving forward.

2020 Indiana Authors Awards: Winners included a New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize in Drama nominee

Here are the authors and books on the shortlist.

Nonfiction

• Steve Beaven: "We Will Rise: A True Story of Tragedy and Resurrection in the American Heartland"

• Ray Boomhower: "Richard Tregaskis: Reporting Under Fire from Guadalcanal to Vietnam"

• Craig Fehrman: "Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote"

• James H. Madison: "The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland"

• Michella M. Marino: "Roller Derby: The History of an American Sport"

• Ruth D. Reichard: "Blood and Steel: Ryan White, the AIDS Crisis and Deindustrialization in Kokomo, Indiana"

Fiction

• Laird Hunt: "Zorrie"

• Angela Jackson-Brown: "When Stars Rain Down"

• D.A. Lockhart: "Breaking Right"

• Michael Martone: "The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird Boy of Fort Wayne"

• Susan Neville: "The Town of Whispering Dolls"

Debut

• Caleb Caudell: "The Neighbor"

• Christopher Elliott: "Before the Dream: Martin Luther King’s 1963 Speech, and Civil Rights Struggles in Fort Wayne, Indiana"

• Ashley C. Ford: "Somebody’s Daughter"

• Tyrone McKinley Freeman: "Madam C.J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving: Black Women’s Philanthropy During Jim Crow"

• J.R. Jamison: "Hillbilly Queer: A Memoir"

'Somebody's Daughter': Bestselling Indianapolis author Ashley C. Ford discusses her deeply personal memoir

Genre

• Paul Allor: "Hollow Heart"

• Josh Dygert: "Stella"

• Sofi Keren: "False Starts & Artichoke Hearts"

• Joe Lee: "Forgiveness: The Story of Eva Kor, Survivor of The Auschwitz Twin Experiments"

• Steve Schatz: "Seashell Virgin: A Nacho Mama’s Patio Café Novel"

• Larry D. Sweazy: "Winter Seeks Out the Lonely: A Sonny Burton Novel"

Poetry

• Kaveh Akbar: "Pilgrim Bell"

• Marianne Boruch: "Bestiary Dark"

• Ross Gay: "Be Holding"

• Adrian Matejka: "Somebody Else Sold the World"

• Mark Neely: "Ticker"

Young adult

• Leah Johnson: "You Should See Me in a Crown"

• Tamara Winfrey-Harris: "Dear Black Girl: Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping Into Your Power"

Her novel was challenged as 'obscene': Leah Johnson will keep telling Black, queer stories

Middle grade

• John David Anderson: "One Last Shot"

• Lisa Fipps: "Starfish"

• Helen Frost: "All He Knew"

• Rob Harrell: "Batpig: When Pigs Fly"

• Laura Martin: "Glitch"

Children's

• Gabrielle Balkan: "Whose Bones? An Animal Guessing Game"

• Kim Howard: "Grace and Box"

• Kenneth Kraegel: "This is a Book of Shapes"

• Kekla Magoon: "The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall’s Life, Leadership, and Legacy"

• Rebecca Mullin: "One Tomato: A Garden Counting Book"

• Judith L. Roth: "Hiding Baby Moses"

Looking for things to do? Our newsletter has the best concerts, art, shows and more — and the stories behind them

Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or d.bongiovanni@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Best books 2022: Shortlist of authors up for Indiana Authors Awards