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
13 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2023
Finalist - Fiction
Chain Gang All Stars
by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Publication Date: Apr 04, 2023
List Price: $27.00
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780593317334
Imprint: Pantheon Books
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
Read a Description of Chain Gang All Stars
Finalist - Fiction
Temple Folk
by Aaliyah Bilal
Publication Date: Jul 04, 2023
List Price: $26.99
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781982191818
Imprint: Simon & Schuster
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Parent Company: KKR & Co. Inc.
Read a Description of Temple Folk
Finalist - Nonfiction
Ordinary Notes
by Christina Sharpe
Publication Date: Apr 25, 2023
List Price: $35.00
Format: Hardcover, 392 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780374604486
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
Parent Company: Holtzbrinck Publishing Group
Read a Description of Ordinary Notes
Finalist - Poetry
Suddenly We
by Evie Shockley
Publication Date: Mar 07, 2023
List Price: $26.00
Format: Hardcover, 112 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9780819500236
Imprint: Wesleyan University Press
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Parent Company: Wesleyan University
Read a Description of Suddenly We
Finalist - Translated Literature
Beyond the Door of No Return
by David Diop
Publication Date: Sep 19, 2023
List Price: $27.00
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780374606770
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
Parent Company: Holtzbrinck Publishing Group
Read a Description of Beyond the Door of No Return
Finalist - Translated Literature
On a Woman’s Madness
by Astrid Roemer
Publication Date: Nov 28, 2023
List Price: $18.00
Format: Paperback, 265 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781949641646
Imprint: Two Lines Press
Publisher: Two Lines Press
Parent Company: Center for the Art of Translation
Read a Description of On a Woman’s Madness
Finalist - Young People’s Literature
Big
by Vashti Harrison, Illustrated by Vashti Harrison
- 2 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Coretta Scott King Award Winning Book 2024
- Caldecott Medal Winner or Honor
Publication Date: May 02, 2023
List Price: $19.99
Format: Hardcover, 60 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Picture Book
ISBN13: 9780316353229
Imprint: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Parent Company: Lagardère Group
Read a Description of Big
Longlist - Fiction
Holler, Child: Stories
by LaToya Watkins
Publication Date: Aug 29, 2023
List Price: $27.00
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780593185940
Imprint: Penguin Publishing Group
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
Read a Description of Holler, Child: Stories
Longlist - Nonfiction
When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era
by Donovan X. Ramsey
Publication Date: Jul 11, 2023
List Price: $30.00
Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780525511809
Imprint: One World
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
Read a Description of When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era
Longlist - Nonfiction
I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction
by Kidada E. Williams
Publication Date: Jan 17, 2023
List Price: $30.00
Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9781635576634
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Parent Company: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Read a Description of I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction
Longlist - Poetry
Trace Evidence: Poems
by Charif Shanahan
Publication Date: Mar 21, 2023
List Price: $16.95
Format: Paperback, 112 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9781953534668
Imprint: Tin House Books
Publisher: Tin House Books
Parent Company: Tin House Books
Read a Description of Trace Evidence: Poems
Longlist - Translated Literature
The Most Secret Memory of Men
by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
Publication Date: Sep 26, 2023
List Price: $19.99
Format: Paperback, 496 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781635423273
Imprint: Other Press
Publisher: Other Press
Parent Company: Other Press
Read a Description of The Most Secret Memory of Men
Longlist - Young People’s Literature
More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
by Michael G. Long and Yohuru Williams
Publication Date: Aug 29, 2023
List Price: $21.99
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9780374391744
Imprint: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Younger Readers
Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
Parent Company: Holtzbrinck Publishing Group