Books Honored by the National Book Foundation
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: 2017 – 2016 – 2015 – 2014 – 2013
9 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2018
Winner - Nonfiction
The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke
by Jeffrey C. Stewart
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
- An NAACP Image Award Honored Book
- 2019 BCALA Literary Award
- 2019 American Book Award
Publication Date: Feb 01, 2018
List Price: $39.95
Format: Hardcover, 944 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780195089578
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Parent Company: University of Oxford
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Winner - Poetry
Indecency
by Justin Phillip Reed
Publication Date: May 08, 2018
List Price: $16.95
Format: Paperback, 112 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9781566895149
Imprint: Coffee House Press
Publisher: Coffee House Press
Parent Company: Coffee House Press
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Winner - Young People’s Literature
The Poet X
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Publication Date: Mar 06, 2018
List Price: $17.99
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Young Adult
ISBN13: 9780062662804
Imprint: HarperTeen
Publisher: HarperCollins
Parent Company: News Corporation
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Finalist - Fiction
Heads of the Colored People (paperback): Stories
by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2019)
- Kirkus Prize Finalist/Winner 2018
- An NAACP Image Award Honored Book
Publication Date: Jan 22, 2019
List Price: $16.00
Format: Paperback, 224 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781501168000
Imprint: Atria / 37 Ink
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Parent Company: CBS Corporation
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Finalist - Fiction
A Lucky Man: Stories
by Jamel Brinkley
Publication Date: May 08, 2018
List Price: $26.00
Format: Hardcover, 264 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781555978051
Imprint: Graywolf Press
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Parent Company: Graywolf Press
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Finalist - Poetry
American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
by Terrance Hayes
Publication Date: Jun 19, 2018
List Price: $18.00
Format: Paperback, 112 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9780143133186
Imprint: Penguin Books
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Finalist - Young People’s Literature
The Journey of Little Charlie
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Publication Date: Jan 30, 2018
List Price: $16.99
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9780545156660
Imprint: Scholastic Press
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Parent Company: Scholastic Inc.
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Longlist - Fiction
An American Marriage: A Novel
by Tayari Jones
- 2 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 3 Book Clubs’s Reading Lists
- A 2018 Oprah Book Club Selection
- An NAACP Image Award Honored Book
- 2019 BCALA Literary Award
Publication Date: Feb 06, 2018
List Price: $26.95
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781616208776
Imprint: Algonquin Books
Publisher: Workman Publishing Co., Inc.
Parent Company: Workman Publishing Co., Inc.
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Longlist - Poetry
Monument: Poems New and Selected
by Natasha Trethewey
Publication Date: Nov 06, 2018
List Price: $26.00
Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9781328507846
Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Parent Company: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt