New York, Nov. 17 (BNA): “The Rabbit Hutch” by Tess Gunty, a sweeping novel set in a low-income residential community in Indiana, won the National Book Award for Fiction. The 30-year-old Jonty was among three writers nominated for their first published book.
The non-fiction award went to “South to America” by Imani Berry, and “All My Rage” by Sabaa Tahir won for young adult literature. In poetry, John Kane was cited for “Wicked: New and Selected Poems,” while Argentine-Spanish author Samanta Schweblin and translator Megan McDowell won Best Work in Translation for “Seven Empty Houses.”
Wednesday night’s winners each took home $10,000.
In her acceptance speech, Gonte cited recent comments made by poetry nominee Sharon Olds about the essential role of literature in society. Jonty described the books as a way to draw attention to those “neglected” and unseen, the Associated Press reports.
“Attention is our most sacred resource,” she said, and described books as among the last places “where we freely spend the resource we need the most.”
“I think kindness wins,” she concluded. “That’s the point of this evening.”
History was on the minds of many award winners, whether it be honorary medalist Art Spiegelman’s references to his Holocaust survivor parents or Imani Berry invoking his “whipped” and “bulleted” ancestors.
Tahir tearfully cited her background as a Muslim and Pakistani-American and dedicated her award to her “Muslim sisters” around the world “fighting for their lives”.
Several speakers referred to the current wave of book bans and the threat to freedom of expression. Spiegelman, whose cartoon “Mouse” was pulled from shelves this year in Missouri and Tennessee, has called some censors “savvy marketers” because controversy over his work has boosted sales. Then he wondered if some teachers would simply prefer a “kinder, gentler crematorium”.
The National Book Foundation’s award dinner, which presents the awards, also included an honorary award for Tracy D. Hall, executive director of the American Library Association.
Hall recalled childhood trips with her grandmother to the local library in the Watts section of Los Angeles, a building she likened to a cathedral and the benefactor who allowed her to borrow as many books as she and her grandmother could carry.
She then paid homage to the librarians who “in resisting censorship efforts sacrificed their jobs and their livelihoods”.
It was the first time since pre-pandemic 2019 that the event had been held in person and hundreds, nearly all maskless, gathered at Cipriani Wall Street in midtown Manhattan. The ceremony was hosted by Top Chef author/host Padma Lakshmi, which also featured recorded introductions by Keanu Reeves, Alicia Keys, and Jimmy Fallon to nominees in competitive categories.
Outside, striking HarperCollins workers hand out flyers and buttons. Lakshmi is among those wearing a union button outlining their differences with the publisher over wages, diversity, and union security among other issues.
About 250 entry-level and mid-level employees at HarperCollins, the only major publisher in New York with a union, began their strike last week. No new conversations are currently scheduled.
Perry, the author of HarperCollins, did not directly refer to the strike in her acceptance speech, but cited those “walking the picket line” among her inspirations.