Books Honored by the National Book Foundation

National Book Award Medals

The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America. National Book Awards are given five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.

Here we highlight the winners of African descent. The first African-American writer to win a National Book Award was Ralph Ellison, in 1953, for Invisible Man.

Check Out AALBC’s Coverage of the National Book Awards:  20172016201520142013


13 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2023

Finalist - Fiction

Chain Gang All Stars
by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

    Publication Date: Apr 04, 2023
    List Price: $27.00
    Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
    Classification: Fiction
    ISBN13: 9780593317334
    Imprint: Pantheon Books
    Publisher: Penguin Random House
    Parent Company: Bertelsmann

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    Finalist - Fiction

    Temple Folk
    by Aaliyah Bilal

      Publication Date: Jul 04, 2023
      List Price: $26.99
      Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
      Classification: Fiction
      ISBN13: 9781982191818
      Imprint: Simon & Schuster
      Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
      Parent Company: KKR & Co. Inc.

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      Finalist - Nonfiction

      Ordinary Notes
      by Christina Sharpe

        Publication Date: Apr 25, 2023
        List Price: $35.00
        Format: Hardcover, 392 pages
        Classification: Nonfiction
        ISBN13: 9780374604486
        Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
        Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
        Parent Company: Holtzbrinck Publishing Group

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        Finalist - Poetry

        Suddenly We
        by Evie Shockley

          Publication Date: Mar 07, 2023
          List Price: $26.00
          Format: Hardcover, 112 pages
          Classification: Poetry
          ISBN13: 9780819500236
          Imprint: Wesleyan University Press
          Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
          Parent Company: Wesleyan University

          Read a Description of Suddenly We


          Finalist - Translated Literature

          Beyond the Door of No Return
          by David Diop

            Publication Date: Sep 19, 2023
            List Price: $27.00
            Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
            Classification: Fiction
            ISBN13: 9780374606770
            Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy
            Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
            Parent Company: Holtzbrinck Publishing Group

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            Finalist - Translated Literature

            On a Woman’s Madness
            by Astrid Roemer

              Publication Date: Nov 28, 2023
              List Price: $18.00
              Format: Paperback, 265 pages
              Classification: Fiction
              ISBN13: 9781949641646
              Imprint: Two Lines Press
              Publisher: Two Lines Press
              Parent Company: Center for the Art of Translation

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              Finalist - Young People’s Literature

              Big
              by Vashti Harrison, Illustrated by Vashti Harrison

              Publication Date: May 02, 2023
              List Price: $19.99
              Format: Hardcover, 60 pages
              Classification: Fiction
              Target Age Group: Picture Book
              ISBN13: 9780316353229
              Imprint: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
              Publisher: Hachette Book Group
              Parent Company: Lagardère Group

              Read a Description of Big


              Longlist - Fiction

              Holler, Child: Stories
              by LaToya Watkins

                Publication Date: Aug 29, 2023
                List Price: $27.00
                Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
                Classification: Fiction
                ISBN13: 9780593185940
                Imprint: Penguin Publishing Group
                Publisher: Penguin Random House
                Parent Company: Bertelsmann

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                Longlist - Nonfiction

                When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era
                by Donovan X. Ramsey

                Publication Date: Jul 11, 2023
                List Price: $30.00
                Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
                Classification: Nonfiction
                ISBN13: 9780525511809
                Imprint: One World
                Publisher: Penguin Random House
                Parent Company: Bertelsmann

                Read a Description of When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era


                Longlist - Nonfiction

                I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction
                by Kidada E. Williams

                  Publication Date: Jan 17, 2023
                  List Price: $30.00
                  Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
                  Classification: Nonfiction
                  ISBN13: 9781635576634
                  Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing
                  Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
                  Parent Company: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

                  Read a Description of I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction


                  Longlist - Poetry

                  Trace Evidence: Poems
                  by Charif Shanahan

                    Publication Date: Mar 21, 2023
                    List Price: $16.95
                    Format: Paperback, 112 pages
                    Classification: Poetry
                    ISBN13: 9781953534668
                    Imprint: Tin House Books
                    Publisher: Tin House Books
                    Parent Company: Tin House Books

                    Read a Description of Trace Evidence: Poems


                    Longlist - Translated Literature

                    The Most Secret Memory of Men
                    by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr

                      Publication Date: Sep 26, 2023
                      List Price: $19.99
                      Format: Paperback, 496 pages
                      Classification: Fiction
                      ISBN13: 9781635423273
                      Imprint: Other Press
                      Publisher: Other Press
                      Parent Company: Other Press

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                      Longlist - Young People’s Literature

                      More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
                      by Michael G. Long and Yohuru Williams

                        Publication Date: Aug 29, 2023
                        List Price: $21.99
                        Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
                        Classification: Nonfiction
                        Target Age Group: Middle Grade
                        ISBN13: 9780374391744
                        Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Younger Readers
                        Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
                        Parent Company: Holtzbrinck Publishing Group

                        Read a Description of More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom