Brooklyn Public Library announces 2024 BPL Book Prize longlist

September 4, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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BOROUGHWIDE — BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY on Wednesday announced the 2024 BPL Book Prize longlist, comprising 20 outstanding nonfiction and fiction titles. Selected by librarians and library staff who draw on their knowledge of literature and the diverse populations they serve, the prize recognizes “writing that captures the spirit of Brooklyn,” BPL said in a release. The books’ settings range from the Muslim immigrant enclave of Bay Ridge depicted by Aisha Abdel Gawad, to to the crime-ridden 1970s Brooklyn of Jonathan Lethem — and themes range from Jewish history through the eyes of Adam Mansbach Dean’s four hundred-pound, stoned Yiddish-speaking Golem, to Bettina L. Love’s look at the impact of 40 years of racist public school policy on Black lives.

The 2024 shortlist will be announced later this month and showcased at a celebratory reading on Sept. 27. The winners will be announced during the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sept. 29. See BPL’s website for the full longlist.

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