National Book Award: Winners, Finalists and Longlisted Titles
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: 2024 – 2023 – 2017 – 2016 – 2015 – 2014 – 2013
2 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 1973
Finalist - Fiction
Mumbo Jumbo
by Ishmael Reed
Scribner Book Company (Jun 11, 1996)
Fiction, Paperback, 224 pages
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Finalist - Poetry
Conjure; Selected Poems, 1963-1970
by Ishmael Reed
Poetry, Hardcover
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