Watch the 2019 National Book Awards Ceremony

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Watch the 70th National Book Awards, hosted by LeVar Burton were streamed live from New York City on November 20, 2019. It’s the biggest night in books, featuring the presentation of lifetime achievement awards to Edmund White and Oren Teicher, followed by the announcement of the Winners of National Book Awards in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. You can watch the full ceremony below and on our Facebook page.

2019 Winners

Fiction
Trust Exercise
by Susan Choi
Henry Holt and Company /
Macmillan Publishers

Nonfiction
The Yellow House
by Sarah M. Broom
Grove Press / Grove Atlantic

Poetry
Sight Lines
by Arthur Sze
Copper Canyon Press

Translated Literature
Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming
by László Krasznahorkai, translated by Ottilie Mulzet
New Directions

Young People’s Literature
1919 The Year That Changed America
by Martin W. Sandler
Bloomsbury Children’s Books / Bloomsbury Publishing

Watch the 2019 National Book Awards Finalists Reading

Every year on the night before the National Book Awards, all of the Finalists gather at the New School to read from their honored titles at an event that is open to the public. It’s a special opportunity to hear these celebrated authors together in one place, and you can join us via our livestream. The 2019 reading features the Finalists in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature and Young People’s Literature.

HOSTED BY: Josh Gondelman and Maris Kreizman

ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Photo credit: Mindy Tucker

Josh Gondelman is a comedian and a writer/producer for Desus & Mero on Showtime. Previously, he earned two Peabody Awards and three Emmy® awards for his work on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Gondelman’s writing has appeared in the New York TimesNew York Magazine, and the New Yorker, as well as some places without “New York” in the name. He has performed standup on CONAN, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Josh lives in New York City with his wife Maris and their pug. His debut essay collection Nice Try is available now from Harper Perennial.

Photo credit: Mindy Tucker

Maris Kreizman is the host of The Maris Review, a literary podcast from LitHub. She’s hosted readings and moderated literary panels at various bookstores, conferences, and festivals across the country. She’s an essayist and critic whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the New York Times Review of Books, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Vanity Fair, BuzzFeed, The Ringer, Esquire, GQ, and more. She was previously the editorial director of digital content at B&N.com, and a publishing outreach lead at Kickstarter. As a former book editor (Free Press/Simon and Schuster) and former editorial director of Book of the Month, she enjoys critiquing her own writing.

Watch the 2019 National Book Awards Teen Press Conference

The National Book Awards Teen Press Conference brings the excitement of the most prestigious literary award in the country to New York City’s middle and high school students. Held during National Book Awards week, Teen Press Conference invites school groups to attend a free literary event that is curated just for them.

Angie Thomas. Photo credit: Imani Khayyam

HOSTED BY:  Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still lives in Jackson, Mississippi. A former teen rapper, she holds a BFA in creative writing from Belhaven University. Her award-winning, acclaimed debut novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Fox 2000, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by George Tillman, Jr. Her second novel, On the Come Up, is on sale now.

FEATURING:

FINALISTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE:

Jeremy O. Harris to Host 2019 5 Under 35 Celebration

The National Book Foundation announced Jeremy O. Harris, writer, and performer, and acclaimed playwright of Slave Play, now at Broadway’s Golden Theatre, will host the 5 Under 35 celebration on Monday, November 18 in New York City, at an invitation-only ceremony. The Foundation’s 5 Under 35 program recognizes young, debut fiction writers whose work promises to leave a lasting impression on the literary landscape. 5 Under 35 is sponsored by the Amazon Literary Partnership and more information about the program can be found here.

ABOUT JEREMY O. HARRIS:

Jeremy O. Harris is a writer and performer living in New York City. His plays include Slave Play“Daddy,” Xander Xyst, Dragon: 1 and WATER SPORTS; or insignificant white boys. His work has been presented or developed by Pieterspace, JACK< Are Love, The New Group, NYTW, Performance Space New York, and Playwrights Horizons. In 2018, Jeremy co-wrote A24’s upcoming film Zola with director Janicza Bravo. In television, he is developing a pilot with HBO and consulted on their new series “Euphoria.” He is the 11th recipient of the Vineyard Theatre’s Paula Playwrighting Award, a 2016 MacDowell Colony Fellow, an Orchard Project Greenhouse artist, and under commission from Lincoln Center Theatre and Playwrights Horizons. Jeremy is a graduate of the Yale MFA Playwrighting Program. Upcoming: A Boy’s Company Presents: “Tell Me If I’m Hurting You,” and “Daddy.”

This year the ceremony will celebrate:

Anelise Chen, So Many Olympic Exertions
Kaya Press
Selected by Dana Spiotta, 2006 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction

Isabella Hammad, The Parisian
Grove Press / Grove Atlantic
Selected by Viet Thanh Nguyen, 2016 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction

Johannes Lichtman, Such Good Work
Simon & Schuster
Selected by Garth Greenwell, 2016 National Book Award Longlist for Fiction

Bryan Washington, Lot: Stories
Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House
Selected by Nafissa Thompson-Spires, 2018 National Book Award Longlist for Fiction

Ashley Wurzbacher, Happy Like This
University of Iowa Press
Selected by Brandon Hobson, 2018 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction