The prestigious National Book Awards were presented on Wednesday, November 16, and the winning books in all four categories speak to issues of equality, diversity, inclusion and social justice in America.
The award for Fiction went to Colson Whitehead (image above) for The Underground Railroad, an amazing book on the horrific history of slavery and racism in America.
The Nonfiction award went to Ibram X. Kendi for Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.
Daniel Borzutzky, a son of Chilean immigrants who grew up in Chicago, won the Poetry award for his collection called The Performance of Becoming Human.
The Award for Young People’s Literature went to Senator John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell for the third book in their trilogy about the civil rights movement called March: Book Three.
Here are a few articles and videos on the books, the authors, and the award presentation:
http://www.nationalbook.org/index.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/business/colson-whitehead-wins-national-book-award-for-the-underground-railroad.html
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/joy-is-an-act-of-resistance-a-historically-black-national-book-awards
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/national-book-awards-2016_us_582cc557e4b058ce7aa8eec9
Jessie says
November 18, 2016 at 4:32 pmThank you for sharing this, including the accompanying links. Nice touch with the Melvyl links!