World Literary Awards

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Edition 36 (2023)

Best Contemporary NovelBest Historical NovelBest First NovelBest Short StoryBest Non-FictionBest Children's/Young Adult Mystery

Winners

7 people
Daphne Silver Winner

Rare books librarian Juniper Blume returns home to chase a lead about the lost covers of the Book of Kells in the first Rare Books Cozy Mystery. The novel mixes bibliophilic detail, family tension, and a small-town murder case with a brisk, cozy pace.

A rare-books expert goes home to follow a manuscript clue and finds herself in a murder case.

202 pages
rare bookssmall-town mysteryfamily reunioncozy mysteryBook of Kells

A wealthy family’s birthday weekend at a winery estate spirals into jealousy, betrayal, and violence. The novel uses a locked-room feel and shifting family loyalties to sustain tension all the way through.

A lavish celebration turns into a night with nowhere to hide.

348 pages
suspensefamily dysfunctionlocked-room tensionwealth and privilegeviolence
Sujata Massey Winner

Set in 1922 Bombay, the fourth Perveen Mistry novel follows the city’s only female solicitor as she takes on the defense of a mistreated young woman. The story combines legal intrigue with class conflict, women’s rights, and family strain.

Perveen Mistry takes on a case that demands both courage and empathy.

432 pages
historical mysterycolonial Indiawomen’s rightslawfamily
Anjili Babbar Winner

This critical study reads Irish crime fiction through the lenses of justice, faith, and identity. Using eleven authors as a guide, it traces how the genre is shaped by history, politics, and cultural change.

A critical guide to Irish crime fiction and the forces that shaped it.

273 pages
literary criticismIrish literaturejusticefaithidentity
Dru Ann Love Winner

This collaborative short story appears in the Beatles-inspired anthology Happiness Is a Warm Gun and is the first fiction piece co-written by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski. It uses grief, memory, and urban tension to create a compact but vivid story.

A first collaborative story, shaped by a Beatles-inspired anthology concept.

284 pages
short storyco-writtenanthologyBeatlesloss

This is the same collaboratively written short story by Dru Ann Love and Kristopher Zgorski, included in the anthology Happiness Is a Warm Gun. The content is shared with the companion envelope, while the author metadata differs.

The collaborative story, reflected under the other co-author’s envelope.

284 pages
short storyco-writtenanthologyBeatlesloss
K. B. Jackson Winner

Jake, a boy obsessed with finding Sasquatch, adjusts to a new school and a changing family life while building a small team of young hunters. Beneath the Bigfoot fun lies a story about belonging, friendship, and family change.

Searching for Bigfoot helps a new kid find his place.

216 pages
middle gradeBigfootfriendshipfamilygrowing up