This week, The National Book Foundation announced the 2016 Longlist nominees for fiction, non-fiction, young people’s literature, and poetry. The news was announced on the organization’s website and in partnership with The New Yorker. Nominated books include Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad, Viet Than Nguyen’s Nothing Ever Dies, Kevin Young’s Blue Laws, Sara Pennypacker & Jon Klassen’s Pax. A complete list of nominees and judges by category can be found on the foundation’s website.
The finalists in each category will be announced on October 13th, 2016 and the winner for each category will be announced on November 16th, 2016. Each winner will win $10,000 while each finalist will receive $1,000.
Since 1950, The National Book Award has been a prestigious honor among the literary community beginning out a desire for an award system for writers by their contemporaries. Past recipients of the award include William Faulkner, Rachel Carlson, and Ralph Ellison. In 1996, the category for Young People’s Literature was added, and in 2013 non-writers were permitted to be judges for the award.
The National Book award is seen as a launching board for a writer’s career, offering recognition across the literary community as well as a public spotlight for emerging talent.
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