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


3 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2013

Finalist - Poetry

The Big Smoke (Poets, Penguin)
by Adrian Matejka

    List Price: $18.00
    Penguin Books (May 28, 2013)
    Poetry, Paperback, 128 pages
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    Longlist - Poetry

    Bury My Clothes
    by Roger Bonair-Agard

      List Price: $16.00
      Haymarket Books (May 07, 2013)
      Poetry, Paperback, 120 pages
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      Longlist - Young People’s Literature

      The Summer Prince
      by Alaya Dawn Johnson

        List Price: $9.99
        Arthur A. Levine Books (Jul 29, 2014)
        Fiction, Paperback, 289 pages
        Target Age Group: Middle Grade
        More Info