National Book Award: Winners, Finalists and Longlisted Titles

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:  2024202320172016201520142013


2 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 1982

Finalist - Children’s Books

Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book
by Muriel Feelings, Illustrated by Tom Feelings

List Price: $6.99
Puffin Books (Jul 15, 1992)
Nonfiction, Paperback, 56 pages
Target Age Group: Early Reader
More Info

Longlist - Nonfiction