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 2002

Finalist - Poetry

Sleeping with the Dictionary (New California Poetry)
by Harryette Mullen

    List Price: $23.95
    University of California Press (Feb 22, 2002)
    Poetry, Paperback, 85 pages
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    Finalist - Young People’s Literature

    Hush
    by Jacqueline Woodson

      List Price: $5.99
      Speak (Jun 23, 2003)
      Fiction, Mass Market Paperback, 180 pages
      Target Age Group: Middle Grade
      More Info