The Audio Publishers Association announced the finalists for the 2023 Audie Awards, which “recognize distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment.”
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine, was named a finalist for audiobook of the year; it is narrated by a cast of more than 50, including authors Claudia Rankine, Tyehimba Jess, and Yaa Gyasi.
Also nominated in the category was Viola Davis, who narrated her Grammy-winning memoir, Finding Me; as well as Paul Simon, Malcolm Gladwell, and Bruce Headlam for Miracle and Wonder: Conversations With Paul Simon. Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures, narrated by Marin Ireland and Michael Urie, and Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts, adapted by Tyler English-Beckwith from the graphic novel by Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martínez, and narrated by a cast of more than 15, rounded out the shortlist.
In the autobiography/memoir category, three authors were named finalists for narrating their own books: Molly Shannon for Hello, Molly!, Delia Ephron for Left on Tenth, and Billy Porter for Unprotected. Also making the shortlist were Patrick Dylan’s Safe, Loved, Wanted: A Family Memoir of Mental Illness, Heartbreak, and Hope, narrated by Raúl E. Esparza, and the late Paul Newman’s The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, narrated by a cast of seven.
The winners of the prizes will be revealed at a New York gala on March 28. A full list of the finalists is available at the Audio Publishers Association website.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
