limn

Joya Chatterji took home the prize for history with “Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century,” which limns the region’s trajectory from British colony to three complex, independent nations.

Such moments of insight and empathy limn Darraj’s novel, shining through the sadness and tension of her characters’ lives.

Thirty years ago, the nook was filled with texts — mostly written by white men — that limned the landscape of criticism in which Black artists had to find their own footing.

“Immediate Family” takes its time limning their skills and showing how they survived the 1980s, when session gigs became scarce.

Its members have included a wide spectrum of people whose life stories limn the Horatio Alger credo, although they have trended conservative.