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
3 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2001
Finalist - Poetry
Brutal Imagination: Poems
by Cornelius Eady
G.P. Putnam’s Sons (Jan 15, 2001)
Poetry, Paperback, 128 pages
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Finalist - Poetry
Mercurochrome
by Wanda Coleman
Black Sparrow (Jul 01, 2001)
Poetry, Paperback, 270 pages
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Finalist - Young People’s Literature
Carver: A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
List Price: $16.95Highlights Press (May 28, 2001)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, 112 pages
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
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