After making the 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize short list last month, Nektaria Anastasiadou’s bestselling debut novel A Recipe for Daphne (Hoopoe, 2021), set among Istanbul’s Rum Orthodox Christians, received an honorable mention in the General Fiction category.

Founded at the start of the twenty-first century, the “Hoffer” honors the memory of the American philosopher Eric Hoffer by highlighting freethinking writers, distinguished writing, and small publishers. It identifies a winner—with a grand prize of $2,500, a runner-up, and honorable mentions within eighteen categories. It has become one of the largest international book awards for small, academic, and independent presses.

“I am thrilled that A Recipe for Daphne was not only a finalist in this competition, but also received an honorable mention. I am grateful to the Eric Hoffer Award Committee for allowing entries from all over the world. The Eric Hoffer is one of the world’s few truly inclusive, English-language book prizes,” said Anastasiadou.

A Recipe for Daphne has been praised widely since it was first published in January 2021. The Chicago Review of Books said about the novel: “Istanbul comes alive through the nostalgic experiences of the people in Anastasiadou’s debut, A Recipe for Daphne, where she presents a thriving minority community that has endured unique trauma and repression . . . redemptive, powerful.”

A Recipe for Daphne has been shortlisted for the 2022 Runciman Award.