Carnegie Prize Finalists Announced by the American Library Association, include Big Names...

The Associated Press has reported that, "Junot Diaz and Louise Erdrich are among the finalists for a literary prize chosen by the American Library Association.

Diaz's "This Is How You Lose Her" and Erdrich's "The Round House" are nominees for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Also contending for the $5,000 award is Richard Ford's "Canada."

Finalists for the nonfiction category, also worth $5,000, are Jill Lepore's "The Mansion of Happiness," Timothy Egan's "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher" and David Quammen's "Spillover."

The library association announced the nominees Monday. Medals will be given to the winners June 30 at the association's annual conference in Chicago. Established in 2012, the awards are made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corp."