national Book Award Archives - Evanston Public Library

National Book Award 2015 Nominees: Non-Fiction

September 16, 2015

I don’t think anyone was too surprised to see Ta-Nehisi Coates’s massive breakaway hit Between the World and Me appear on this year’s longlist of nonfiction National Book Award nominees. There were some pleasant surprises, however. Sy Montgomery, long known for her children’s nonfiction titles, did well with her recent The Soul of an Octopus (which is NOT for kids). Meanwhile Sally Mann’s memoir Hold Still made an appearance as well. Have you read all the nominees? Click on the titles below to reserve your copies from the EPL system: Continue reading “National Book Award 2015 Nominees: Non-Fiction” →

Walter Dean Myers, 1937-2014

July 3, 2014

n-WALTER-DEAN-MYERS-large Walter Dean Myers died on Tuesday at the age of 76 after a brief illness. Author of more than 100 books including Monster and Lockdown, Myers was a three-time National Book Award nominee, the recipient of two Newbery Honors, a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, and “the rare author to have a wide following among middle-school boys.” In 2011, EPL’s Jarrett Dapier talked with Myers for In These Times magazine. In the fascinating interview, the legendary YA writer candidly discussed “the debt he owes to James Baldwin” along with the importance of mentoring teens. He will truly be missed.

Peter Matthiessen, 1927-2014

April 9, 2014

Author and naturalist Peter Matthiessen died Saturday at his home in Sagaponack, New York at age 86. According to this fascinating NYT article, Mr. Matthiessen ” was a man of many parts: litterateur, journalist, environmentalist, explorer, Zen Buddhist, professional fisherman and, in the early 1950s, undercover agent for the Central Intelligence Agency in Paris.” He wrote more than 30 books, mostly nonfiction, and is the only writer to win the National Book Award in both fiction (Shadow Country) and nonfiction (The Snow Leopard). His final novel In Paradise has just been published. You can read the entire NYT article here. And check the EPL catalog for more works by this author.

Laura

Poetry 365

December 28, 2013

: Poet Diane Raptosh

This month for Poetry 365 we’re highlighting Diane Raptosh’s remarkable new volume American Amnesiac. Longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award, this fourth collection from the Boise Poet Laureate follows “the manic journey of a man stripped of memory” and forced to “confront the complexities of being American in an age of corruption, corporations, and global conflict.” Mixing confession and prophesy, history and myth, these 65 haunting poems cast a linguistic spell that “compels and rewards slow reading.” So check out this riveting new book, enjoying the opening poem below, and make sure to stop back next month for Poetry 365.

Continue reading “Poetry 365” →

National Book Award Winners: Erdrich and Boo

November 15, 2012

Louise Erdrich has won the National Book Award for fiction for her novel “The Round House” about a woman raped in a Native American community. Katherine Boo has received the nonfiction prize for “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity,” which focuses on the poor in India and government corruption. Competition for both categories was especially fierce this year with several prominent authors considered for the honors. See the NY Times article.

Shira S.

Finalists for National Book Award 2012 Announced

October 11, 2012

For the award in fiction, the NBA committee nominated Junot Diaz, who continues to garner attention for his short story collection “This is How You Lose Her,” along with Dave Eggers for “A Hologram for the King” and Louise Erdrich for her work “The Round House.”

In nonfiction, Anthony Shadid, who died earlier this year in Syria, was selected for his personal history “House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East.” Robert Caro made the list for another volume in his sweeping series, “The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 4.” In addition, Katherine Boo was recognized for “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.”

See this NYTimes article for more candidates and categories. Winners announced Nov. 14.

Shira S.