Not In This World by Jane Scott Stuart with Elaine Flowers
Author Jane Scott Stuart
Author Elaine Flowers
2026 NYC Big Book Award Winner
FORRES, MORAY, SCOTLAND, September 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The NYC Big Book Award has granted recognition to Not In This World, co-authored by Jane Scott Stuart and Elaine Flowers, as a winner in the African American Fiction category.
A panel of specialists from various sectors of the publishing world—including authors, editors, publishers, designers, booksellers, librarians, and professional copywriters—evaluates the competition. Winners and distinguished favorites are determined based on overall excellence.
Not In This World by Jane Scott Stuart
A work of historical fiction rooted in actual occurrences, this novel delves into race, gender identity, and bravery during the Jim Crow era and World War II.
A significant milestone in the story of human connection.
An overlooked saga of endurance in a small 1930s Kentucky town, centered on a young Black man and a white child who are inseparable. Their mutual reliance unfolds throughout this vivid tale, moving through World War II, across the Atlantic Ocean, and back again. Grounded in true events, this novel brims with descriptive energy and sharp dialogue, keeping readers turning pages late into the night.
“Jane Stuart writes like a Southern angel, with a voice that sings and beguiles, much like her enigmatic and irresistible character, Paul. Intimate yet sweeping, Paul Carew's story weaves an age-old tale of a black man's domestic servitude with a disarmingly contemporary exploration of sexual gender identity, almost as if 'Transparent' met 'The Help'. The book haunts you and stays with you and breaks your heart. I’m a screenwriter and after reading it I couldn’t stop thinking: this beautiful book has to be made into a movie. My second thought was: I have to write the script.”
— Becky Johnston — Screenwriter, The Prince of Tides, Seven Years in Tibet, The House of Gucci
Book submissions for the NYC Big Book Award arrived from across the globe. Participants included attorneys, doctors, entrepreneurs, film and television writers, historians, and journalists—ranging from well-established authors to first-time indie writers, in addition to both small and large publishing houses.
This year’s entries came from the United States and nations such as Australia, Canada, China, Dubai, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Cities represented among the submissions included Auckland, Baltimore, Dallas, Frankfurt, Hollywood, Johannesburg, Manhattan Beach, New Orleans, NYC, Philadelphia, Sydney, and West Palm Beach.
Publishers included Beacon Press, Berrett-Koehler, Casemate, Edinburgh University Press, Forbes Books, Kiplinger Books, NYU Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Rizzoli, Routledge, The White House Historical Association, University of California Press, University of Nebraska Press, Weaving Influence Press, and Wiley.
We have an amazing list of authors from around the globe participating this year, said awards sponsor Gabby Olczak. I’m so excited to share these books with a worldwide readership!
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About Jane Scott Stuart
Jane Scott Stuart was born in 1937 in Louisville, Kentucky, and spent her earliest years in her grandmother’s kitchen in Horse Cave, Kentucky — the quiet, segregated world that would later form the heart of Not In This World. An avid reader from the age of three, she grew up with stories woven into every corner of her life.
Jane Scott Stuart
Jane went on to live on four continents — Sweden, Canada, New York, Tahiti, London, Provence, and the Scottish Highlands — absorbing the textures of each place and carrying them into her writing. She was educated at Holton Arms (Washington D.C.), Hollins College (Virginia), and McGill University (Montréal), where she met the man who became her husband: the younger son of a Scottish Earl, now her literary critic and beloved companion of over seventy years.
Not In This World is her debut novel. It draws directly on her own life and memory to tell a story of identity, love, and the extraordinary bonds that survive the pressures of history.
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About Elaine Flowers
Elaine Flowers has been publishing fiction since 2004. Her debut novel became a Dallas Morning News bestseller, and she has since authored ten additional books across multiple genres. A graduate of Full Sail University with a BFA in Creative Writing for Entertainment, she brings both craft and discipline to everything she writes.
As a full-time writer and editor, Elaine works closely with independent authors to help them shape and realise their stories. Her collaboration with Jane Scott Stuart on Not In This World brought Paul’s perspective to the page with the emotional precision the story demands. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband.
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About the Award
NYC Big Book Award, https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/, is announced every fall. NYC Big Book Award is open to all authors, publishers, and illustrators, and includes submissions from the big five publishers. Join us for the Awards Dinner on April 10th, https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/awardsdinner, held at the BookCAMP event, April 9-10, 2027, https://www.ipabookcamp.com, where recipients from both programs will walk on stage to receive their awards.
Gabby Olczak
NYC Big Book Award
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2026 NYC Big Book Award Winner in African American Fiction
