American National Book Awards
The National Book Awards rank alongside the Pulitzer Prizes as the most significant accolades in American literary life. They have been presented annually since 1950, and administered by the National Book Foundation, a publishing industry organization, since 1989.Winners each receive a bronze sculpture and $10,000, although the award’s greatest benefit is often in increased sales, especially when little-known authors are suddenly thrust into the spotlight.
The winners
2009
- Colum McCann : Let the Great World Spin
- T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
- Keith Waldrop, Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy
- Phillip Hoose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
2008
- Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country
- The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
- Mark Doty, Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems
- Judy Blundell: What I Saw and How I Lied
- · Fiction: “Tree of Smoke,” by Denis Johnson
- · Nonfiction: “Legacy of Ashes,” by Tim Weiner
- · Poetry: “Time and Materials,” by Robert Hass
- · Young People’s Literature: “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie
- · Fiction: “The Echo Maker,” by Richard Powers
- · Nonfiction: “The Worst Hard Time,” by Timothy Egan
- · Poetry: “Splay Anthem,” Nathaniel Mackey
- · Young People’s Literature: “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing,” by M.T. Anderson
2005
- · Fiction: “Europe Central,” by William T. Vollmann
- · Nonfiction: “The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion
- · Poetry: “Migration,” W.S. Merwin
- · Young People’s Literature: “The Penderwicks” by Jeanne Birdsall
- · Fiction: “The News from Paraguay,” by Lily Tuck
- · Nonfiction: “Arc of Justice,” by Kevin Boyle
- · Poetry: “Door in the Mountain,” Jean Valentine
- · Young People’s Literature: “Godless,” by Pete Hautman