We’re halfway through TFR’s shortlist day, which means it’s time to talk about authors :))
I’m releasing these shortlists in order of how many votes each category got, and there was a definite spike in competition for the Author of the Year 2024 category. I saw a fairly clear split for the four most-voted authors on this list, so the shortlist for this category has just four names on it. But voting won’t close until 11:59pm EST on December 27th, so you’ve still got plenty of time to add your voice to the conversation!
All four of these authors have published novels in 2024 – sometimes multiple novels. In addition to their outstanding literary output, they are also recognized for their work in the transfeminine literary community, which I will note as relevant. Authors are ordered alphabetically by last name.
Without further ado, here are the four shortlisted authors you’ve most voted for Author of the Year!
The Shortlist
Alyson Greaves
Titles Published in 2024: Welcome to Dorley Hall (Neem Tree Press, 7/25/24); How to Fly (Self, 8/23/24); (kimmy) (Self, 10/25/24)
Other Notable Work: Ongoing serialization of The Sisters of Dorley series on Archives of Our Own and Scribblehub; ongoing Patreon-exclusive serialization of the When You Fell From Heaven series (affectionately titled ‘Untitled Cheerleading Story’ for a chunk of the year); Patreon-exclusive serial The Catch with co-author Emory Ahlberg; being a social media icon with her @badambulist handle on X and later Bluesky.
Major Awards: All three of her novels were longlisted for TFR’s Best Fiction of 2024 Award
Website: https://linktr.ee/badambulist
Bluesky: Link
Purchase: Welcome to Dorley Hall, Kimmy, How to Fly
Naomi Kanakia
Titles Published in 2024: Just Happy to Be Here (HarperTeen, 2/29/24); The Default World (The Feminist Press, 5/28/24); Money Matters (Self, 10/31/24)
Other Notable Work: A major body of literary criticism on her Woman of Letters substack page; the publication of several short stories, including in short anthologies Out of Our League and We Mostly Come Out At Night, and titles “Editors don’t want male novelists,” “Too many novels are lacking in moral vision,” and “Mankind is inherently good.”
Major Awards: The Default World was longlisted for TFR’s Best Fiction of 2024 Award
Website: https://substack.com/@naomik
Purchase: Just Happy to Be Here, The Default World
Sascha Stronach
Titles Published in 2024: The Sunforge (Saga Press, 8/6/24)
Other Notable Work: The successful launch of newsletter and swordfighting publication The Trying Times; Article byline “Is it possible to keep your voice and soul while writing for an international market?” published in The Spinoff.
Major Awards: The Sunforge was longlisted for TFR’s Best Fiction of 2024 Award
Website: https://www.theunderstatesmen.com/
Bluesky: Link
Purchase: The Sunforge
Maria Ying (Devi Lacroix and Benjanun Sriduangkaew*)
Important note: Benjanun is not transfemme – however, every entry on the poll was for Maria Ying, which of course includes her. As such, I’ll be also mentioning her work with Transcendent Books (which is mostly her, not Devi), which is absolutely superb allyship and a critical part of the transliterary community but still not strictly transfemme-authored. Bear that in mind.
Titles Published in 2024: The Hades Calculus (Self, 7/2/24)
Other Notable Work: Creating a shockingly active fandom for the Gunmetal Olympus series, including an entire Bluesky RP community and a burgeoning body of fanfiction; publishing the newsletter Transcendent Books which reviews and draws attention to novels by predominantly underrepresented self-published transfeminine and TWOC voices.
Major Awards: The Hades Calculus was longlisted for TFR’s Best Fiction of 2024 Award
Website: https://devilacroix.com/
Bluesky: Link
Purchase: The Hades Calculus
And that’s the shortlist! This is of course only a small handful of the wonderful transfemme authors who made a splash in the industry and community this year, so if there’s a name you wanted to see on this list, make sure to vote at the link below! Voting is open until December 27th at 11:59pm EST, and you can vote for any author, not just these four. Additionally, there are thirty-three other categories, and every one of these authors has a book eligible for another category too, so make sure you send them some love down the ballot. Link below:
In case you missed it, we’ve already released the shortlists for poetry and nonfiction today. Stay tuned for Best Debut, coming up next.
The Transfeminine Review 
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