- Percival Everett won the National Book Award for Fiction for James, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim's point of view.
- In the non-fiction category, Jason de Leon's “The Soldier and the King: Survival and Hope in a World of Smugglers'' won.
- Winners were selected by a committee of authors, critics, and booksellers from more than 1,900 nominated books.
Percival Everett's James, a bold remake of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, won the National Book Award for Fiction. In the non-fiction category, Jason de Leon's The Soldier and the King: Survival and Hope in a World of Human Smuggling won the award, while Salman Rushdie's memoir about a brutal 2022 stabbing was shortlisted. It included a knife.
On Wednesday night, the youth literature award was awarded to Shifa Sartagi Safadi's youth novel “Kareem Between,” and the poetry award was awarded to Lena Khalaf Tufaha's “Something About Living.” In the translation category, the Yang twins' “Taiwan Travelogue'', translated from Mandarin by Lin Jing, won first place.
A judging committee made up of writers, critics, booksellers, and other people involved in the literary world selected from hundreds of entries, and publishers nominated a total of more than 1,900 books. Winners in the five competitive categories each received $10,000.
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Everett's win continues his impressive growth in recent years. Little known to general readers for decades, the 67-year-old was a Man Booker and Pulitzer Prize finalist for novels such as Trees and Dr. He also worked on the film adaptation of the novel, which was nominated for an Oscar. “American Fiction”.
Authors Percival Everett (left) and Jason de Leon attend the 75th National Book Awards Ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 in New York. (Andy Klopa/Invision/AP)
Based on Mark Twain's classic story of wayward Southern boy Huck and enslaved Jim, Everett tells the story from the latter's perspective, emphasizing how differently Jim acts and speaks when white people are not around. I am doing it. The novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Kirkus Prize for Fiction last month.
“James'' was well received,'' Everett said in his acceptance speech.
“Demon Copperhead” novelist Barbara Kingsolver and Black Classic Press publisher W. Paul Coates have been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Medal from the National Book Foundation, which awards the award.
Speakers celebrated diversity, chaos, and autonomy, whether it was Taiwan's independence or the rights of immigrants in the United States. Both winners, Safadi and Tufaha, criticized the year-long war in Gaza and the United States' support for Israel's military. Neither mentioned Israel by name, but there were cheers and a more subdued response after they called the conflict a “genocide” and called for support for the Palestinians.
Tufaha, who is Palestinian-American, said part of her award was in recognition of “all the deep and beautiful Palestinian people this world has lost, and all the miraculous people who endured and waited for us and were waiting to wake up.” dedicated to the people.
Author Percival Everett attends the 75th National Book Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. (Andy Klopa/Invision/AP)
Last year, publisher Zibby Owens withdrew support for the prize after hearing that the finalists were planning to denounce the war in Gaza. Earlier this year, the World Jewish Congress also criticized Coates' award, citing in part the republication of his allegedly anti-Semitic essay “Assault on the Jews.”
Ruth Dickey, executive director of the National Book Foundation, said in a recent statement that Coates was honored for a body of work, not an individual book, and that while the foundation condemns anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry, , adding that he also believes in freedom of expression.
“Anyone who looks at the publisher's work over almost 50 years will find individual works and opinions that they disagree with or find offensive,” she added.
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The National Book Awards have long been held in mid-November, right after the election, but this is an early snapshot of the book world's reaction. After Barack Obama's victory in 2008, publisher and honorary recipient Bernie Rosset expected “a new award.” and an uplifting agenda.” In 2016, after Donald Trump's first victory, tough but determined novel winner Colson Whitehead told his audience to “be nice to everyone, make art, and fight against power.” Fight!'' he urged.
When hundreds of people gathered this year for the awards' 75th anniversary dinner ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in downtown Manhattan, the atmosphere was solemn, determined and high-spirited.
Author Jason de Leon attends the 75th National Book Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. (Andy Klopa/Invision/AP)
Host Kate McKinnon joked that she was hired because the National Book Foundation wanted “something fun and light and something to distract from the fact that the world is a bonfire.” Musical guest Jon Batiste led the audience in “March of the Saints” and sang a few lines from the Leonard Cohen standard “Hallelujah,” which McKinnon wrote in his first “Saturday” performance after airing in 2018. It was played solemnly at the beginning of “Night Live.” 2016 Election.
Kingsolver admitted she felt “devastated right now,” but added that she had felt despair before. She compared truth and love to forces of nature, such as gravity and the sun, that are always there, whether visible or not. A writer's job, she says, is to imagine “a better ending than the one given.”
During a reading by the finalists for the award on Tuesday night, some talked about community and support. Everett began his turn by confessing, “I've really needed this kind of inspiration these last few weeks. We need each other right now.” After warning that “hope is not a strategy,” he paused and said, “Never before has a situation felt so absurd, so surreal, so ridiculous.”
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It took me a moment to realize that he wasn't discussing current events, but reading James.
