The National Book Critics Circle has announced the finalists for its John Leonard Prize for best debut book of the year.
They include a collection of short stories by a Twin Cities writer, and two books -- a collection of stories, and a collection of poems -- published by Minneapolis' Graywolf Press.
The winner will be announced in January and will be honored at the NBCC awards ceremony in New York in March.
Here are the finalists:
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Twin Cities writer Lesley Nneka Arimah (Riverhead)
Marlena by Julie Buntin (Holt)
What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons (Viking)
Whereas by Layli Long Soldier (Graywolf)
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (Graywolf)
My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent (Riverhead)
