National Book Foundation celebrates 75 years of hosting National Book Awards
On Nov. 20, the National Book Foundation (NBF) hosted the 75th National Book Awards, which celebrates five authors worldwide who write the best books throughout the year in the following categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.
In addition to announcing the National Book Award Winners, the Ceremony & Benefit Dinner drives funding for the Foundation’s year-round work connecting books with readers of all ages.
The NBF website states: “The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to celebrate the best writing in the United States. Since 1989, the Awards have been overseen by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate the best literature published in the United States, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in our culture.”
Screengrab of Percival Everett, who won the National Book Award this year in Fiction for his novel James (2024).Photo by Milette MillingtonIn Fiction, the winner is James (2024) by Percival Everett. The novel reimagines Mark Twain’s classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but it’s told from the perspective of Huckleberry’s friend on his travels, Jim, who is an escaped slave.
In Nonfiction, the winner is Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling (2024) by Jason De León. According to the publisher’s note on the NBF website, “De León chronicles the lives of low-level foot soldiers breaking into the smuggling game and morally conflicted gang leaders who oversee ragtag crews of guides and informants along the migrant trail.”
In Poetry, the winner is Something About Living (2024) by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. The publisher’s note on the NBF website states that this book “explores Palestinian life through the lens of American language, revealing a legacy of obfuscation and erasure. What happens when language only permits ongoing disasters to be packaged neatly for consumption and subsequent disposal?”
In Translated Literature, the winner is Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King (2024). The publisher’s note explained that this book “unburies lost colonial histories and deftly reveals how power dynamics inflect our most intimate relationships. “
In Young People’s Literature, the winner is Kareem Between (2024) by Shifa Saltagi Safadi. In this book, Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parents—and between right and wrong. It’s up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.”
This year, in honor of the 75th National Book Awards, the NBF has set an ambitious goal of adding 75 new monthly donors to support our work. A generous donor is matching all monthly donations, so support will go twice as far.
Those interested in supporting the NBF and its work can donate here:
