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.

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3 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 1999

Winner - Poetry

Vice: New and Selected Poems
by Ai Ogawa

Publication Date: Jun 17, 2000
List Price: $21.00
Format: Paperback, 272 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9780393320183
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Parent Company: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Finalist - Poetry

Configurations: New & Selected Poems, 1958-1998
by Clarence Major

    Publication Date: Sep 01, 1998
    List Price: $20.00
    Format: Paperback, 375 pages
    Classification: Poetry
    ISBN13: 9781556590900
    Imprint: Copper Canyon Press
    Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
    Parent Company: Copper Canyon Press

    Finalist - Young People’s Literature

    Monster
    by Walter Dean Myers

    Publication Date: Dec 28, 2004
    List Price: $11.99
    Format: Paperback, 304 pages
    Classification: Fiction
    Target Age Group: Young Adult
    ISBN13: 9780064407311
    Imprint: Amistad
    Publisher: HarperCollins
    Parent Company: News Corp