| An
Increase in 2008 National Book Award Entries |
|
Over
200 publishers submitted 1,258 books for the 2008
National
Book Awards, an increase of six percent
from 2007. To view a breakdown of how many books
of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's
literature were submitted to be judged as well
as a list of the judges, visit www.nationalbook.org.
|
| September
10th Kicks Off National
Book Award Season, 2008 |
|
The
2008 National Book Award Season kicks off on
September 10th at exactly 10:00 a.m. EST, when
the Foundation's website, www.nationalbook.org
will reveal the recipients
of its lifetime achievement awards, the Medal
for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
and the Literarian Award for Outstanding
Service to the Literary Community. Detailed
information about the location and time of the
National
Book Award Finalists Announcement will
also be posted.
The
recipient of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution
to American Letters is a person who has enriched
our literary heritage over a life of service,
or a corpus of work. Past
recipients include, Norman
Mailer, John
Updike, Toni
Morrison, Arthur
Miller, Judy
Blume, David
McCullough, Ray
Bradbury and Joan
Didion. For more about these and
other past honorees, please visit the Foundation's
website at http://www.nationalbook.org/amerletters.html.
The
Literarian Award for Outstanding Service
to the Literary Community, created
in 2005, honors an individual whose life
and work exemplify the goals of the National
Book Foundation to expand the audience for literature
and enhance the cultural value of literature
in America. Past recipients include Lawrence
Ferlinghetti and Terry
Gross. For more information
about past honorees including their acceptance
speeches, visit the Foundation's website
at http://www.nationalbook.org/literarian.html.
Image:
2007 lifetime achievement recipients, Joan
Didion (top) and Terry
Gross (bottom). Didion image © Brigitte
Lacombe. Gross image © Will Ryan.
|
| 5
Under 35 for 2008 to be Announced in September |
|
On
September 24th
the
National Book Foundation will announce this
year's 5 Under 35 fiction selections. Now
in its third year, 5 Under 35
highlights the work of the next generation of
fiction writers by asking five previous National
Book Awards fiction Winners and Finalists to
select one fiction writer under the age of 35
whose work they find particularly promising
and exciting.
The
selected writers will be celebrated during National
Book Awards Week at an invitation-only party
and reading on November 17th.
For
a list of the 2006 and 2007 5 Under 35 fiction
writers and the National Book Award authors
who selected them, as well as scenes from the
invitation-only parties, click on www.nationalbook.org/5under35.
|
| Sunday,
Sept. 14th: NBF Participates in Brooklyn Book
Festival |
|
The
National Book Foundation is thrilled to participate
in the third annual Brooklyn Book Festival,
to be held in Downtown Brooklyn on Sunday, September
14th from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
We
look forward to meeting and speaking to readers,
writers, librarians, booksellers, teachers,
or anyone curious about the National Book Foundation's
programs and the National Book Awards. Reading
Hot Spots maps and shelf-talkers will be available
at our booth, and medallions can be ordered.
The
festival will present National Book Award authors
Dorothy Allison, Joan Didion, Jonathan Franzen,
Jessica Hagedorn, Jacqueline Woodson and Kevin
Young. Other authors scheduled to be present
are Jimmy Breslin, Susan Choi, Kathryn Harrison,
Philip Lopate, Terry McMillan, Richard Price
and Esmeralda Santiago. For more information
on the Brooklyn Book Festival visit http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/.
|
| Innovations
in Reading |
|
Each
month the National Book Foundation will highlight
individuals or organizations that use innovative
methods to encourage people to read good books
and to develop a passionate engagement with
literature.
Since
1987 the International
Reading Association, sponsor
of the "Young Adults Choices Project",
has produced an annual list of 30 titles that
target teen readers. The 30 titles are selected
by students who have read and rated the books
as "0" if they didn't like it,
"1" if they were neutral toward it
and "2" if they really enjoyed it.
The 30 books with the highest ratings are selected
for the project. The development of the annual
list currently involves approximately 4,500
students from across the country. The list is
used by teachers, librarians, parents and students
to encourage teens to read more. To view the
titles on the 2008 annual list or to become
part of this project, visit www.reading.org/resources/tools/choices_young_adults.html.
Image
© International Reading Association |
|
| On
nationalbook.org |
|
COMMUNITY
Tune
into Harold Augenbraum's post on The
Future of Literary Culture. Read Augenbraum's
latest blog about how reading may become a form
of random snippets.
|
| VIDEO |
|
Commemoration
of the Work and Life of William Maxwell: Legendary
New Yorker Fiction Editor, Novelist, Story
Writer and Essayist On
July 31st, the National Book Foundation
along with admirers and friends Christopher
Carduff, Benjamin
Cheever, Edward
Hirsch, Daniel Menaker and Stewart O'Nan
commemorated the centennial of William Maxwell's
birth and the eighth anniversary of his death
as part of New Mad Square Reads series
at Madison Square Park.
To
view and read about the lively discussion and
how Maxwell's wisdom affected each of the
authors' writing life, click on www.nationalbook.org.
Ron
Hogan from Galleycat.com
provides footage of Daniel
Menaker and Benjamin
Cheever discussing their relationship with
Maxwell on his
YouTube channel.
Full
video coverage of the event will soon be available
on the Foundation's website.
|
| Mark
The Date |
| September
14th,
Visit the NBF at Brooklyn Book Festival in Downtown
Brooklyn, New York
|
| Notable
NBA Dates |
|
August
15th, Book submission deadline
September
10th, Recipients for the Medal for
Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
and the Literarian Award, location and time
of the National
Book Awards Finalists announcement and
the Master
of Ceremonies for the 2008 National
Book Awards Dinner and Ceremony, at www.nationalbook.org,
10:00 a.m.
September
24th, Announcement of 5 Under 35 next
generation of fiction writers, New
York City
October
15th, Announcement of this year's
National Book Award Finalists in Chicago
November
17th, National Book Awards Week Begins
with 5 Under 35, a celebration of the next generation
of fiction writers
November
18th, National Book Awards Teen Press
Conference, New York City
November
18th, National Book Awards Finalist
Reading, New York City
November
19th, 59th National
Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner, New York
City
|
| From
the NBF Archives |
|
Perry
Miller, 1957 NBA Nonfiction Finalist for
The Raven and the Whale: Poe, Melville and
the New York Literary Scene
In honor
of Perry Miller, we highlight his book, The
Raven and the Whale, a 1957 National
Book Award for Nonfiction Finalist, by revisiting an
essay from the National Book Awards archive.
Written by former NBF executive director Neil
Baldwin, the feature looks closely at the person
behind the book.
|
|
