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:  2024 – 2023 – 2017 – 2016 – 2015 – 2014 – 2013


2 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2004

Finalist - Poetry

Click for a larger image of The Rest Of Love: Poems

The Rest Of Love: Poems
by Carl Phillips

ADD TO CART
Buy the Kindle eBook
Borrow from Library
    List Price: $11.00
    Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Jan 12, 2005)
    Poetry, Paperback, 80 pages
    More Info ▶

    Finalist - Young People’s Literature

    Click for a larger image of The Legend of Buddy Bush

    The Legend of Buddy Bush
    by Shelia P. Moses

    ADD TO CART
    Buy the Audiobook
    Buy the Kindle eBook
    Borrow from Library
    List Price: $10.99
    Margaret K. McElderry Books (Jul 16, 2019)
    Fiction, Paperback, 224 pages
    Target Age Group: Middle Grade
    More Info