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 1998

Finalist - Fiction

The Healing
by Gayl Jones

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• 1999 BCALA Literary Award

List Price: $23.00
Beacon Press (Jan 01, 1999)
Fiction, Paperback, 304 pages
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Finalist - Poetry

From The Devotions: Poems
by Carl Phillips

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List Price: $12.95
Graywolf Press (Mar 02, 2002)
Poetry, Paperback, 82 pages
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