National Book Award: Winners, Finalists and Longlisted Titles
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
10 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2022
Winner - Nonfiction
South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
by Imani Perry
List Price: $32.99Ecco (Jan 25, 2022)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, 432 pages
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Winner - Poetry
Punks: New & Selected Poems
by John Keene
List Price: $20.00The Song Cave (Dec 01, 2021)
Poetry, Paperback, 234 pages
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Finalist - Fiction
The Birdcatcher
by Gayl Jones
List Price: $24.95Beacon Press (Sep 13, 2022)
Fiction, Hardcover, 216 pages
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Read Our Review of The Birdcatcher
Finalist - Nonfiction
His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
List Price: $30.00Viking (May 17, 2022)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, 432 pages
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Finalist - Poetry
Golden Ax
by Rio Cortez
List Price: $18.00Penguin Books (Aug 30, 2022)
Poetry, Paperback, 80 pages
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Finalist - Poetry
Best Barbarian: Poems
by Roger Reeves
- 3 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Hurston/Wright Honored Book (2023)
- An NAACP Image Award Honored Book
W. W. Norton & Company (Mar 22, 2022)
Poetry, Hardcover, 120 pages
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Finalist - Young People’s Literature
Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice
by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile, Illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile
List Price: $22.95Norton Young Readers (Sep 27, 2022)
Fiction, Hardcover, 208 pages
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
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Longlist - Poetry
Duende: Poems, 1966—Now
by Quincy Troupe
List Price: $50.00Seven Stories Press (Aug 24, 2021)
Poetry, Hardcover, 656 pages
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Read Our Review of Duende: Poems, 1966—Now
Longlist - Young People’s Literature
Swim Team
by Johnnie Christmas, Illustrated by Johnnie Christmas
List Price: $24.99HarperAlley (May 17, 2022)
Fiction, Hardcover, 256 pages
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
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Longlist - Young People’s Literature
Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution
by Sherri Winston
List Price: $16.99Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (Sep 06, 2022)
Fiction, Hardcover, 304 pages
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
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