February 2009, eNewsletter 
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eNews
for February 2009
National
Book Awards:
60
Years of Honoring Great American Books
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| Application
for the First Innovations in Reading
Prize |
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Postmark Deadline is February
17
On
December 17, the Foundation announced
the new Innovations in Reading
Prize. The
Prize awards up to $2,500 to individuals
and institutions that have developed
successful, innovative approaches
to inspire Americans to become life-long
and passionate readers. Sponsored
by a generous grant from The
Ford Foundation,
the Prize fulfills the National Book
Foundation's mission of expanding
the audience for literature in America.
Prize-winning approaches will be publicized
across the country.
For
more information and to download the
application, visit www.nationalbook.org/innovations_in_reading_2008.pdf.
The
postmark deadline for all materials
is February 17, 2009.
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| NBF
Partners with Concordia College for
Annual NBA on Campus, March 26-27 |
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For the fourth consecutive year, the
National Book Foundation is partnering
with Concordia College in Moorhead,
Minnesota and
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), to present
the annual National Book Awards on
Campus Weekend featuring Maxine Hong
Kingston, the 2008 recipient of the
Medal for Distinguished Contribution
to American Letters, and Annette Gordon-Reed,
the 2008 National Book Award Winner
in Nonfiction for The Hemingses
of Monticello: An American Family.
As
part of the visit, on Thursday evening,
March 26, Kingston and Gordon-Reed
will participate in a reading and
discussion to be hosted by MPR's
Kerri Miller. Miller is the host of
MPR's Midmorning and Talking Volumes
- a joint book club of MPR, the Star
Tribune and the Loft Literary
Center.
To
hear Kingston's acceptance speech
at the National Book Awards, visit
www.nationalbook.org/amerletters_2008_kingston.html.
To
hear Gordon-Reed's acceptance
speech and read an interview as well
as an excerpt of The Hemingses
of Monticello: An American Family,
visit www.nationalbook.org/nba2008_nf_gordon_reed.html.
Photos:
Robin Platzer, Twin Images
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Congratulations
to NBA YPL Authors Alexie and Zarr
for California Young Reader Medal
and Appelt for Newbery
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Sherman
Alexie's first
young-adult novel, The Absolutely
True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,
and Sara
Zarr's debut
novel, Story of a Girl, make
up two of
the three Finalists for
the California
Young Reader Medal
in the Young Adult category for year
2009-2010.
The Absolutely True Diary of
a Part-Time Indian won the National
Book Award in 2007 for Young People's
Literature and Story of a Girl
was a Finalist in the same year for
the same category. Both books are
published by Little Brown Books for
Young Readers.
Nominations for the California Young
Reader Medal programs are submitted
by children as well as teachers and
librarians who provide notice of repeatedly
read or requested titles to the Medal
committee. Members of the committee
read the suggested books, discuss
their merits and appeal to children,
and then decide upon a well-balanced
list of Finalists.
The
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time
Indian is based
on Alexie's
own
experiences that chronicle the
adolescence of a contemporary Native
American boy as he
attempts to rise above the life he
seems
destined to live. To
read an excerpt,
visit http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2007_ypl_alexie.html.
Story of a Girl is about
teenager Deanna Lambert's struggle
to overcome the lasting repercussions
and the stifling role of "school
slut". To
read an excerpt,
visit
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2007_ypl_zarr.html.
Kathi
Appelt's debut novel, The Underneath,
a 2008 National Book Award Finalist
in Young People's Literature, has
received a 2009 Newbery Honor
Award.
The
Underneath is a
story about love and hate, jealousy
and loyalty, promises and betrayal
as experienced by a pregnant cat and
a lonely hound dog. To read an excerpt,
visit http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2008_ypl_appelt.html.
"It is gratifying that three
honorees from past
years' National Book Awards are
appealing to readers across the country,”
states Harold Augenbraum, the executive
director of the National Book Foundation.
Photos:
Sherman Alexie © Rob Casey; Sara
Zarr © Quinn Jacobson; Kathi
Appelt © Chandler Arden.
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| NBF
Partners with Seven Stories Press
and Steppenwolf Theater to Celebrate
Nelson Algren's Centennial |
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Part
of NBF's Literary
Masters Program
Several
programs in Chicago will celebrate
Nelson Algren's centennial this
year. From February 12 to 14, the
Associated Writing Programs conference
will host two panels at the Chicago
Hilton. Steppenwolf
Theater will present a gala evening
of readings featuring Russell Banks
and John Malkovich on April 6.
Algren,
a Chicago author, won the first National
Book Award in Fiction in 1950 for The
Man with the Golden Arm and
was a Fiction Finalist in 1957 for
Walk
on the Wild Side.
He started his writing career
in the 1940s. His second novel, Never
Come Morning, was attacked
for its depiction of Polish-Americans,
and copies were removed from library
shelves. In the 1950s,
J. Edgar Hoover, then Director of the
FBI, deemed Algren a public enemy and
denied him a passport. In the sixties
and seventies, he was a celebrated figure
more revered than read. Since his death
in 1981, other writers have championed
his writing and his books continue to
be taught.
Literary
Masters is a National
Book Foundation program that promotes
and supports public programming across
the country to highlight and celebrate
America's foremost authors past
and present. The program was initiated
in 2008 with Philip
Roth's 75th birthday,
which took place at Columbia University.
In 2010, the Foundation will present
Rumors
of My Death Are Greatly Exaggerated…:
The Life and Work of Mark Twain,
on the centennial of Twain's death.
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WWW.NATIONALBOOK.ORG
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Check-Out
NBF's Expanded Library of Videos
and Podcasts
The
Foundation has increased its library
of videos, which now includes complete
coverage of the 2008
National Book Awards,
beginning with the 5
Under 35 event
and ending with the acceptance
speech by Peter Matthiessen,
who won the National Book Award in
Fiction for Shadow
Country.
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AUDIO PODCAST
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Podcast
of an interview with Louis Erdrich
moderated by Aoibheann Sweeney, which
took place as part of the Foundation's
program partnership with the Brooklyn
Academy of Music, is now available.
Erdrich was a National Book Award
Finalist in Young People's Literature
for The
Birchback House
(1999) and a Finalist in Fiction for
The
Last Report on the Miracles at Little
No Horse
(2001).
Click
to Listen
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Mark
These Dates
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February
17, Postmark
deadline for Innovations in
Reading Prize
March
26 – 27, National
Book Award Campus Weekend with Concordia
College and MPR featuring Maxine
Hong Kingston, the 2008 recipient
of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution
to American Letters, and Annette Gordon-Reed,
the 2008 National Book Award Winner
in Nonfiction, in Moorhead,
MN.
Dates
for the 2009 National Book Awards
April
15, Guidelines
and entry forms mailed to publishers.
June
16, Entry
form deadline.
November
18, National Book Award Winners
Announced.
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| Giving
to the National Book Foundation |
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The National
Book Foundation is a non-profit organization
that depends on the help of friends
to support our mission, to celebrate
the best of American literature, expand
its audience, and enhance the cultural
value of good writing in America.
Please visit the Donate
Now page on our
website to strengthen the Foundation's
public and educational outreach programs
by making a tax-deductable contribution
online.
Thank you for
your support.
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Follow
the Foundation on Twitter
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For instantaneous
updates and event listings, subscribe
to our feed at http://twitter.com/nationalbook.
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The National Book Foundation thanks the following
corporate sponsors for their generous support.
Barnes & Noble; Random House, Inc.; Bloomberg;
Coral Graphics; R.R. Donnelley; Lindenmeyr Book
Publishing Papers; Penguin Group (USA); Borders;
Hachette Book Group USA; HarperCollins Publishers;
Levenger; John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
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