2022 National Book Award Winners

 

DID YOU KNOW:
The National Book Awards (NBA) were established in 1950, originally in 1936 but were abandoned due to the war, to celebrate the best writing in America. Since 1989, they have been overseen by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate the best literature in America, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in American culture. Although other categories have been recognized in the past, the Awards currently honor the best Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature published each year.

A panel of judges selects a Longlist of ten titles per category, which is then narrowed to five Finalists, and a Winner for each category is announced at the Awards Ceremony in the fall. Each Finalist receives a prize of $1,000, a medal, and a Judge’s citation. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture. The Awards Ceremony is one of the most anticipated events for writers, publishers, and readers eager to celebrate the best books of the year.

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 The theme of this year's National Book Awards (NBA) ceremony was a united call to fight the Book Bannings, which have affected 138 school districts and over four million children. 

The life-changing power of literacy was front and center at the 73rd National Book Awards, which took place on November 16 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. This was the first face to face ceremony since 2019.

Before the winners were announced, there were two lifetime achievement awards given to: 

• Author Art Spiegelman, most famous for his work Maus (Which is on the list of banned books)
• Librarian Tracie D. Hall, the first Black woman to serve as the executive director of the American Library Association. "Please, please stand against this effort to limit access to reading," Hall said in her acceptance speech. "Remember: Free people read freely."

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With the presentation of the 2 prestigious awards for "Life Time Achievment" completed, the evening quickly turned to the 5 book category award winners listed below! 

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National Book Award 2022: Fiction Winner

Tess Gunty was named the winner in the fiction category for The Rabbit Hutch.

In her comments, Gunty spoke without notes. She said she’d prepared none because she didn’t think it was possible that she’d win. And yet she was poised and elegantly well-spoken, deeply complimentary to her fellow shortlistees, talking of how their works, “as different as they may be, attend to those who are structurally neglected and the humanized experiences that are not visible normally.

 

 

Here’s the 5 Finalists in the Fiction category:

Writer	Title	Publisher / Imprint
**Tess Gunty**	The Rabbit Hutch Buy Now- $31.99	Penguin Random House / Alfred A. Knopf
Gayl Jones	The Birdcatcher Buy Now- $28.99	Beacon Press
Jamil Jan Kochai	The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories Buy Now- $29.99	Penguin Random House / Viking
Sarah Thankam Mathews	All This Could Be Different Buy Now- $29.99	Penguin Random House / Viking
Alejandro Varela	The Town of Babylon Buy Now- $30.99	Astra Publishing House / Astra House

 

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National Book Award 2022: Nonfiction Winner

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Imani Perry’s win for South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation drew a thunderous roar of approval from the audience, which quickly became a raucous contrast to the studied, crystalline quietude of her comments. Almost in a whisper, Perry told the audience, “I write for my people. I write because we children of the lash-scarred, rope-choked, bullet-ridden desecrated are still here, standing. I write for the field holler, the shout, the growl, the singer, the signer, and the signifying. I write for the sinned-against and the sanctifying. I write for the ones who clean the toilets and till the soil and walk the picket lines. For the hungry, the caged, the disregarded, the holding-on, I write for you".

 

Here’s the 5 finalists in the Nonfiction category:

Writer	Title	Publisher / Imprint
**Imani Perry**	South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation Buy Now- $32.99	HarperCollins / Ecco
Meghan O’Rourke	The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness Buy Now- $31.99	Penguin Random House / Riverhead Books
David Quammen	Breathless: The Scientific Race To Defeat a Deadly Virus Buy Now- $33.99	Simon & Schuster
Ingrid Rojas Contreras	The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir Buy Now- $33.99	Penguin Random House / Doubleday
Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa	His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice Buy Now- $33.99	Penguin Random House / Viking Books

 

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National Book Award 2022: Poetry Winner

In poetry, John Keene won the 2022 award for his Punks: New & Selected Poems, published by the Song Cave.

And in case you find the cover image on Punks provocative, so do many others. In going through his thanks, Keene made a special point to acknowledge the Alvin Baltrop Trust for making it possible to use the photo you see on the cover.

Baltrop (1948-2004) was a Bronx-born photographer who started taking photos of his fellow servicemen in Vietnam. You can read more about his work at the trust’s site.

The shot you see is an excerpt from an image taken between 1969 and 1972 and called Three Navy Sailors. It was printed in 2011.

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Here’s the 5 finalists in the Poetry category:

Writer	Title	Publisher / Imprint
**John Keene**	Punks: New & Selected Poems Buy Now- $28.99	Song Cave
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke	Look at This Blue Buy Now- $19.99	Coffee House Press
Sharon Olds	Balladz Buy Now- $22.99	Penguin Random House / Alfred A. Knopf
Roger Reeves	Best Barbarian Buy Now- $30.99	WW Norton & Company
Jenny Xie	The Rupture Tense Buy Now- $19.99	Graywolf Press

 

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National Book Award 2022 : Translated Literature Winner

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Here’s the 5 finalists in the Translated Literature category:

Author	Title	Original Language	Translator	Publisher / Imprint
**Samanta Schweblin**	Seven Empty Houses Buy Now- $28.99	Spanish	**Megan McDowell**	Penguin Random House / Riverhead Books
Scholastique Mukasonga	Kibogo Buy Now- $19.99	French	Mark Polizzotti	Archipelago Books
Mónica Ojeda	Jawbone Buy Now- $19.99	Spanish	Sarah Booker	Coffee House Press
Jon Fosse	A New Name: Septology VI-VII Buy Now- $20.99	Norwegian	Damion Searls	Transit Books
Yoko Tawada	Scattered All Over the Earth Buy Now- $19.99	Japanese	Margaret Mitsutani	New Directions

 

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National Book Award 2022: Young People’s Literature Winner

Sabaa Tahir won the 2022 award for young people’s literature, for her All My Rage, published by WW Norton. She also won the hearts of the gala’s audience at Cipriani in an emotional acceptance speech balancing anguish and comedic timing.

“I am the first Muslim and Pakistani American woman to win this award in this category,” she said. “So I must honor my Muslim sisters in too many places to count who are fighting for their lives, their autonomy, their bodies, and their right to live and tell their own stories without fear. Sisters, may you rise, and may you be victorious against the oppressors.”

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Here’s the 5 finalists in the Young People’s Literature category:

Author	Title	Publisher / Imprint
**Sabaa Tahir**	All My Rage Buy Now- $22.99	Penguin Random House / Razorbill
Sonora Reyes	The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School Buy Now- $21.99	HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray
Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, Dawud Anyabwile	Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice Buy Now- $25.99	WW Norton
Kelly Barnhill	The Ogress and the Orphans Buy Now- $22.99	Workman Publishing / Algonquin Young Readers
Lisa Yee	Maizy Chen’s Last Chance Buy Now- $19.99	Penguin Random House / Random House for Young Readers

 

Watch The Entire Ceremony Here (2h 16m)

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Source: Publishing Perspective (Click here for full presentation)

Source: Wikipedia (Click here)

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