JUNE 2026

LitHub once referred to our Firecracker Awards finalist announcement as "a perfect indie reading list"—and this year is no different! Don't miss this roundup of the 2026 finalists for the twelfth annual Firecracker Awards, given for the best independently published books of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry and the best literary magazines in the categories of debut and general excellence. The winners of this year’s Firecracker Awards will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on June 25 at 6 p.m. ET. We hope you'll join us!

Every month, we spotlight five books that have received extra attention lately. Don't miss our June picks, all from independent literary publishers:

Plastic, Prism, Void: Part One by Violet Allen (LittlePuss Press | 9781964322025)—a novel in which “a magical girl-gone-bad and a renegade mech pilot must stay on a date forever, even if it means destroying the world"—was included on last week’s Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers list. Order now.

I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always by Douglas Kearney (Wave Books | 9798891060128)—a visual poetry collection that is “a sustained consideration of precarious Black subjectivity, cultural production as self-defense,” and more—is a finalist for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Order now.

Dog Days by Emily LaBarge (Transit Books | 9798893380477)—a memoir that “unfolds in the long shadow of freak violence—where language stammers, time loops, and the body remembers what the mind can’t”—is one of Literary Hub's Best Reviewed Books of the Week. Order now.

Riverwork by Lisa Robertson (Coach House Books | 9781552455173)—a novel about a lost urban river that brings to life “a long-gone Paris and both its domestic workers and its writers”—was reviewed in The New York Times. Order now.

Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from the Mandarin by Lin King (Graywolf Press | 9781644453155)—a novel that “unburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships”—is the winner of the International Booker Prize 2026. Order now.

July is Disability Pride Month, and to help you celebrate, we've put together a roundup of poetry and nonfiction titles from independent presses.

In our latest spotlight on an indie press, Alana Wilcox, the editorial director of Coach House Books, says, "Our mission is to publish adventurous and courageous books, books that challenge expectation or convention, in handsome volumes and accessible digital versions."

Celebrate Pride Month, observed every June, with these nineteen titles—including poetry, fiction, and anthologies—from independent presses.

Discover poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published last month by independent literary publishers—including Conduit Books & Ephemera, Fernwood Press, Lost Horse Press, Tupelo Press, Ugly Duckling Presse, and more.