2022 Kirkus Prize Winners

Trust shows the fundamental inequality of wealth by following a wealthy couple in New York, starting in the 1920s. The judges appreciated the “multiple perspectives and forms to push the boundaries of what a novel can do.”

This year’s fiction judges were Deesha Philyaw, Luis Correa, Wendy Smith, and Laurie Muchnick.

In In Sensorium, perfumer Tanaïs recounts their experiences — from a childhood spent in different regions of the U.S. to trips to their native Bangladesh — weaving South Asian perfume history throughout. Kirkus judges praised the book’s “daring, inventiveness, vision, and lyrical eloquence.”

This year’s nonfiction judges were Hanif Abdurraqib, Lillian Dabney, Sarah Norris, and Eric Liebetrau.

This young adult graphic novel follows three young women who stay at a share house in Japan, and their lives together. The book’s “remarkable mastery of graphic novel conventions and its perceptive exploration of emotionally resonant, evergreen themes relating to family, friendship, and identity” stood out to the judges.

This year’s young readers’ literature judges were Jerry Craft, Junko Yokota, Alec B. Chunn, and Laura Simeon.