More awards: Rathbones shortlist, Science + Literature winners

The shortlist for the Rathbones Folio Prize was revealed yesterday.

Six novels (including the most recent Booker Prize winner), one nonfiction work, and one poetry collection are in the running.

The contenders for the £30,000 (about $41,500) prize are:

• Assembly, by Natasha Brown

• The Promise, by Damon Galgut 

• Men Who Feed Pigeons, by Selima Hill 

• Albert and the Whale, by Philip Hoare 

• Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan 

• My Phantoms, by Gwendoline Riley 

• China Room, by Sunjeev Sahota 

• The Magician, by Colm Tóibín 

The Rathbones Folio Prize celebrates the best work of literature regardless of genre; the winner will be revealed March 23.

Also revealed Wednesday: the National Book Foundation's inaugural selected titles for its new Science + Literature program. 

The new initiative will recognize three books each year, with the goal of promoting better understanding of science and technology.

The three books and their authors, who each receive $10,000, are:

• The Kissing Bug, by Daisy Hernandez

• The Radiant Lives of Animals, by Linda Hogan

• In the Field, by Rachel Pastan