Messy family stories that have a strong sense of place, and that make you think as much as they make you feel; think Jesmyn Ward, Louise Erdrich, Miriam Toews, or even Catherine Newman (family can mean found family). I also love older characters who feel really fully realized on the page.  

Literary fiction that plays with and interrogates language and/or translation, in a still character-driven way, like Daisy Johnson’s EVERYTHING UNDER or Katie Kitamura’s INTIMACIES. 

Historical fiction with a strong sense of atmosphere. I would love something gothic that’s set somewhere unexpected.  

Nature writing that’s lyrical but story-driven in its approach, and that’s attuned to our acute state of crisis, across fiction and nonfiction both; think Charlotte McConaghy’s novels, or in nonfiction, Robin Wall Kimmerer’s BRAIDING SWEETGRASS. I would particularly love to find more underrepresented voices in this space. 

Hybrid memoir that has strong writing and opens out into historical or social portrait, incorporates nature or science or psychology, or touches in another way on larger social or political themes, from the more literary end of the spectrum (like Natasha Trethewey’s unforgettable MEMORIAL DRIVE) to the lighter, slightly more prescriptive side (like James Nestor’s BREATH)   

Character-driven narrative nonfiction, history, and journalism that speaks to larger current issues but isn’t tied into specific headlines, like Rachel Louise Snyder’s NO VISIBLE BRUISES and the work of Ibram X. Kendi and Masha Gessen