I found that the fact that everyone could attend the ceremony, while living under the ever-present shadow of a virus that keeps us all apart, added an extra layer of specialness to the awards this year. I’ve never felt more proud or lucky to be a part of this community. Before the book awards were given out, Walter Mosley was recognized with the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and Carolyn Reidy was posthumously honored with the Foundation’s Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. Lisa Lucas, the executive director of the National Book Foundation, who announced earlier this year that she was leaving to be senior vice president at Knopf Doubleday, gave a heartfelt goodbye speech. And viewers were treated to a special surprise at the conclusion of the award ceremony: John Darnielle, author, member of The Mountain Goats, and one of this year’s judges of the award for Translated Literature, performed “This Year” (which includes the extremely relevant to 2020 lyrics “I am gonna make it through this year, if it kills me.”) And now for the winners: — National Book Foundation (@nationalbook) November 19, 2020
Young People’s Literature
Translated Literature
Poetry
Nonfiction
Fiction
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists! This was truly an excellent selection of titles this year. Don’t forget to check out the full list of this year’s nominees, and check out last year’s winners here. We Are Not Free by Traci Chee Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed The Way Back by Gavriel Savit High as the Waters Rise by Anja Kampmann, translated from the German by Anne Posten The Family Clause by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, translated from the Swedish by Alice Menzies The Bitch by Pilar Quintana, translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette A Treatise on Stars by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge Fantasia for the Man in Blue by Tommye Blount Borderland Apocrypha by Anthony Cody Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory by Claudio Saunt My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland How to Make a Slave and Other Essays by Jerald Walker Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
