Professor’s Novel Finalist for WA Book Award

The latest novel from Communication Professor Sonora Jha, PhD, The Laughter, is a finalist for the 2024 Washington State Book Awards.

The best-selling work, described as “an explosive, tense and illuminating work of fiction and a fascinating portrait of privilege, radicalization, class and modern academia that forces us to confront the assumptions we make, as both readers and as citizens,” is up for the award in the fiction category.

“I’m truly honored to have my book listed as a finalist among some phenomenal books by writers I so deeply admire,” says Jha, who is also Associate Dean of Faculty Scholarship & Academic Community at the College of Arts and Sciences. “My heartfelt thanks to the jury of librarians, library workers, independent booksellers and authors, who clearly had a tough task. Congratulations to all the writers!”

The Washington Center for the Book—an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by the Washington State Library—selected 39 finalists in seven categories for this year’s WSBA, all outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2023. This is the 58th year of the program, which was formerly the Governor’s Writers Awards.

Winners will be announced Sept. 24, 2024.

Check out the list of all the nominees in The Seattle Times.