New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed and authors Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. and Eve L. Ewing are among the latest recipients of The Chicago Review of Books’ annual literary awards.
The honorees of the so-called “CHIRBy Awards” were announced Thursday night in a ceremony at Chicago’s Fine Arts Building. The independent local awards recognize the best fiction, nonfiction, poetry and essays published by Chicago-area authors.
Other prizes went to poet Rob Macaisa Colgate and WBEZ’s own Adriana Cardona-Maguigad.
Ahmed, who grew up in suburban Batavia, was recognized with the Adam Morgan Literary Leadership Award. She is the author of several Young Adult novels, including “Love, Hate & Other Filters” and was the first South Asian woman to write Kamala Khan in Ms. Marvel comics.
Ahmed was recognized for “her dedicated work in protecting our freedom to read widely as a national leader of Authors Against Book Bans,” according to the Review of Books. In her acceptance speech, Ahmed said, “We are going to continue to read. And we are going to continue to write. And we are going to win.”
The awards are a collaboration between the Review of Books, the nonprofit literary organization, StoryStudio, and the downtown bookstore Exile in Bookville.
Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. was recognized with the evening’s fiction award for his semi-autobiographical Chicago-set novel, “The El,” which traces a group of teenage gang members throughout one sticky summer’s day in Chicago circa 1979.
The evening’s nonfiction award went to sociologist, author and poet Eve L. Ewing for her latest book, “Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism.” In February, Ewing told WBEZ’s Sasha-Ann Simons that the book explores who and what schools have been for historically.
“As I outline in the book, there’s this really strong history of schools for Black people being really used to reinforce the idea of subservience and of social control,” Ewing said. “And at the same time, schools for Native kids putting forth the lie that native people were doomed to disappearance, that it is part of their destiny in this country to disappear.”
Poet Rob Macaisa Colgate was recognized for his debut collection, “Hardly Creatures.” According to publisher Tin House, the work “shepherds the reader through the radiance and mess of the disability community.”
And, WBEZ immigration reporter Adriana Cardona-Maguigad was recognized with the award for essay/short story for her reported piece, “A trans migrant came to Chicago to escape violence. Now she’s afraid of deportation.” Cardona-Maguigad is part of a team at WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times that has focused on covering the Trump administration’s heightened immigration enforcement throughout the Chicago area.
This year marked the awards’ 10th anniversary. Recipients are selected by a committee made up of local booksellers and the Chicago Review of Books staff. Past winners have included writers such as Rebecca Makkai, Ling Ma and Erika L. Sánchez.
Winners of the 10th Annual Chicago Review of Books Awards
2025 Fiction Award
“The El” by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (Vintage)
2025 Nonfiction Award
“Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism” by Eve L. Ewing (One World)
2025 Poetry Award
“Hardly Creatures” by Rob Macaisa Colgate (Tin House)
2025 Essay/Short Story Award
“A trans migrant came to Chicago to escape violence. Now she’s afraid of deportation” by Adriana Cardona-Maguigad, WBEZ Chicago
2025 Adam Morgan Literary Leadership Award
Samira Ahmed, author of “Love, Hate & Other Filters”
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.