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:

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 Times, New 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.

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.