They’re celebrating again in St Paul now that the final five for the 2008 National Book Award have been announced. Graywolf Press has a novel on the shortlist–The End by Salvatore Scibona.

The nominees for fiction are

• Aleksandar Hemon, The Lazarus Project
• Rachel Kushner, Telex from Cuba
• Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country
• Marilynne Robinson, Home
• Salvatore Scibona, The End

Minneapolis can hold its head up too: Coffee House Press has a nominee for Patricia Smith’s book of poems Blood Dazzler. The full list–including the nominees in the Nonfiction and Young Adult categories–is here.–David E