National Book Awards

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Debut Novel Among National Book Award Finalists

Awards will be handed out at a ceremony next month

(Newser) - A debut novelist has received quite the honor, named as one of five finalists for the 2025 National Book Award in fiction. Ethan Rutherford's North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther stands in contention alongside works by Karen Russell, Bryan Washington, Megha Majumdar, and Rabih Alameddine, all...

National Book Award Finalists Are Out
Here Are Your
National
Book Award
Winners
UPDATED
Nov 21, 2024 12:00 AM CST

Here Are Your National Book Award Winners

Percival Everett wins for James

(Newser) - Percival Everett's James, a daring reworking of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has won the National Book Award for fiction. Jason De León's Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling won for nonfiction, the AP reports. The prize for young people's...

National Book Awards Disrupted by Defecting Sponsors

At least 2 won't attend Wednesday's NYC ceremony, amid rumors authors will call for Gaza ceasefire

(Newser) - The National Book Awards already made headlines earlier this year, when it dropped Drew Barrymore from hosting its annual ceremony due to her resuming her talk show amid the Hollywood strikes. Now, with the event set to take place Wednesday in New York, there's more disruption, this time tied...

Drew Barrymore Dropped by Hosting Gig Amid Brouhaha

National Book Awards drops her as host

(Newser) - Drew Barrymore was already getting a lot of online flak for resuming her talk show amid the Hollywood strikes , followed by show staffers kicking out two audience members who were wearing WGA pins at the first taping, but now there's some tangible fallout: The National Book Awards has rescinded...

Rookie Novelist Scores a National Book Award

Gunty's 'The Rabbit Hutch' won fiction prize; Imani Perry won for nonfiction for 'South to America'

(Newser) - Tess Gunty's The Rabbit Hutch, a sweeping debut novel set in a low-income housing community in Indiana, has won the National Book Award for fiction. The 30-year-old Gunty was among three writers nominated for their first published books, per the AP . The nonfiction prize went to Imani Perry's...

Ta-Nehisi Coates Snags National Book Award

He dedicated award to friend killed by police officer

(Newser) - Ta-Nehisi Coates can now add a National Book Award to his growing list of accomplishments: The journalist, who was recently given a MacArthur genius grant , has won the National Book Award for nonfiction for Between the World and Me , his look at race and policing in America, written as a...

National Book Award Goes to Louise Erdrich

Manhattan ceremony goes glam

(Newser) - Louise Erdrich's novel Round House won the National Book Award last night, beating out big-name contenders like Junot Diaz and Dave Eggers. Erdrich's book tells the story of a teenage boy's confrontation with violence on a North Dakota reservation, the New York Times reports. "This is...

National Book Awards Tip Hat to 99%

Jesmyn Ward wins fiction prize for 'Salvage the Bones'

(Newser) - Literature's elite gathered last night at a posh Wall Street venue to honor their own at the National Book Awards, but the glitzy ceremony turned out to be a tribute to the 99%, with gritty tales of immigration, tempest, and recession taking the top honors. "I thought I...

Patti Smith Snags National Book Award

Memoir about relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe wins nonfiction prize

(Newser) - Patti Smith was the darling of last night's National Book Award ceremony, where she won the nonfiction prize for her memoir about her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, Just Kids. "I dreamed of having a book of my own, of writing one that I could put on a shelf,"...

Colum McCann Wins National Book Award

Dave Eggers, Gore Vidal also honored at New York ceremony

(Newser) - Irish-born author Colum McCann won the National Book Award for his novel Let the Great World Spin, a fictional take on the effects of Philippe Petit’s 1970s tightrope walk between the Twin Towers on multiple New Yorkers. The non-fiction prize at last night’s ceremony went to TJ Stiles...

Jefferson- Hemings History Wins National Book Award

Tome details founding father's slave family

(Newser) - The heart-wrenching and controversial history of Thomas Jefferson's secret family with slave Sally Hemings took the top prize for nonfiction at the National Book Awards last night, USA Today reports. Annette Gordon-Reed became the first African-American woman to win the prize for her detailed exploration of the lives of three...

National Book Awards Go to Spook Stories

History of CIA and Vietnam novel win

(Newser) - Spy stories took National Book Awards last night, as a history of the CIA by New York Times reporter Tim Weiner took non-fiction honors and Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke, a sprawling thriller about a CIA agent in Vietnam, led the the winners. Joan Didion accepted a medal for distinguished...

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