comprehensive live, unfiltered coverage of the 119 congress and the presidential inauguration. c-span, democracy unfiltered, graded by cable. weekends on c-span are an intellectual feast. every saturday, american history tv documents america's story and on sundays, book tv to the latest of nonfiction books and authors. funding for c-span 2 comes from these television companies and more. including midco. where are you going? or maybe a better question is, how far you want to go? and how fast you want to get there? now, we are getting somewhere. let's go. let's go faster. let's go further.

let's go beyond. midco, along with these television companies supports c-span 2 as a public service. [ applause ] well, i would like to invite to the stage my good friend who cares about books just as much as i do, and i know we all do in a world where we needed the most right now. i'm so glad to be here with you i love you even if i don't know you. we shared this message of love

and hope and togetherness, literary excellence and thought and truth. thank you so much for your work , please welcome to the stage, kate mckinnon. ♪ >> thank you, john. he's pretty good. my name is kate, i am a book awards virgin, so be gentle. i'm going to put on these glasses, which are fake glasses that i wear to feel smarter because i am the dumbest person in this room.

good evening. tonight we come together to celebrate the power of storytelling the way it connects us, challenges us and transforms us as we gather in this room surrounded by some of the most talented and visionary authors of our time, we are reminded that to do more than entertain, they illuminate, they provoke, and most importantly, they inspire change. that was written by chat gpt. is that bad? i didn't know --. i was so intimidated, i didn't know what to say at the opening. i was telling my friend about it and he asked the robot, and that's what the robot said. i don't use chat gpt because i

find it distasteful and frightening and because i have an iphone 7, a platform that does not support you mojitos. in any cage, this is not your mom's book awards. we will have some fun tonight. who is drunk? okay, it really is an honor to be here tonight. as a sketch comedian, there are a few calls that you wait for, the call to join the cast of saturday night live, the call to play an outlandish side character in a blockbuster film, and of course the call to host the national book awards. i told the producers of this event, you know the high point of my career was wearing ryan gosling's as a hat on live tv.

i don't know that i have the requisite gravitas to host the national book award and they said, we know. they said they wanted something fun and light, and i said, oh, to distract from the fact that the world is a bonfire and we are tossing more wood on? and they said, yes, in a way that suggested that they regretted the call. but i wanted to be here because books do so many things. they inspire, they transport, kill spiders when you can't find issue. i was told this is the oscars of books. i said, okay, so what is the budget for my opening number? do i get backup dancers? how many? they said we can provide granola bars for the rehearsal. but john sina is here and he will be naked.

i'm kidding. i technically did join the literary world this year. i published a middle grade novel. that was the most work -- thank you. i'm sure you guys have heard of this, but it is so much work to write a book. i wanted to write a book for young readers because when i was young, books did save my life. i was choking on a fig newton and the woman babysitting me hit me hard on the back with a copy of beowulf and the newton was dislodged. but, seriously, i wasn't sure why i wanted to write a book. i just knew that i had a burning itch to communicate and connect that could only be scratched by telling a story and sharing it.

why do we continue to write books? there are movies. are to their already in the books? people are leaving these things and laundry rooms. and yet we continue because the world spins on offering us new situations ranging from the tricky to the horrific and i think, ultimately we tell stories because we want to help. a book is an offering, hand in the darkness, a way of saying, i know. isn't this crazy? and that is something that a robot will never be able to do because --. thank you. yes. robots do not know what it is like to be certain you are going to die one day. robots do not experience racism or food insecurity. robots do not lose their partners, we

over election results or receive a devastating diagnosis. most of all, robots do know not -- not know what it is like to confidently walk up and say hi abigail, only to know that the person's name to suzanne. but we know these things. people know these things. and so until we have solved the problems of death and loneliness and their byproducts, war and climate change, sensitive souls will continue to offer their thesis of how to make the most of our fragile and fling, fleeting time on this burning planet surrounded by other fragmented hearts. writing a book is nothing short of an act of kindness. please, give yourselves a round of applause for your kind and pulls to reach out into the darkness. okay. enough from the comedian.

we are going to begin tonight with a presentation of the two lifetime achievement honors given by the national book foundation. first is the 2024 literary, an award for outstanding service to the american literary community presented in recognition of the honorees dedication to expanding the audience for books and reading. which is as martha stewart would say, a very good thing. past recipients include dr. -- carolyn reedy, don weber and paul yamazaki of city lights and booksellers and publishers. 10 nights recipient is a lifelong advocate for black and african diaspora stories through his work as a bookseller, librarian, instructor, editor and publisher. here to present the literary this evening is 2020 lifetime achievement award honoree, walter mosley.

walter mosley is an award- winning offer of over 60 acclaimed books of fiction including been wrong so right it feels like right including nonfiction and place. his work has been translated to 25 languages. it gives me great pleasure to welcome to the stage, walter mosley. ♪ >> i didn't know there was going to be music. they have it on this thing but i'm going to read my paper. it says almost exactly the same thing. i always get the feeling, don't you get the feeling that when you come and they say they want to see it so they can -- because they are up here they want to make sure that what you are saying isn't going to embarrass anybody? anyway. i recently had an occasion to

call paul a warrior publisher. the black man who traded in the term slave for enslaved, the black panther who was on many a hit list, the man that wrought literature into prisons literature that most people didn't and still don't know exist. paul coates who virtually bled his own blood to ink his own printing presses and who worked shoulder to shoulder with world shattering writers, editors, his own family, and those of us of the diaspora around the world? paul coates who is still the only black publisher in america that prince his own books because he would not let our truths to be bought out from under us or sabotaged. and when i say our truths, i'm not talking about black people, i'm talking about living history that has been erased, eradicated, murdered, and then resurrected in the form of zombie lies. paul shares information that

every man, woman, and every child in america, and therefore the world must know if they want their souls to survive. paul coates who will publish when he is flushed and penniless. who decides what he will publish based on the quality of the truth of that work. paul coates, a man who believes in you, even if you don't believe in yourself, who believes in you even if he doesn't like you. these beliefs are grounded in his faith and social evolution, not personal gain. paul coates, the warrior publisher cannot be bought out or put out of business. how many of us can say that? how many people in this room love every minute of self- sacrifice? how many people pile up the debt to pay off the obligations of our people? how many can be that serious, that political and still find time to laugh and love and keep the faith? paul has lived a life of service.

most people in the modern world are confused and befuddled because their hearts and minds are filled with so much miss information -- misinformation that most of what they see and believe isn't even there. they say, i'm worth so much because my paycheck says so. that when the weather must love or hate me because i feel the same for them. that the system i serve must be valid because if that was not true, my life would be worthless. paul ctte has taught me that none of that is true or maybe that most of it is not. he has done so by working side- by-side with me, extolling the greatness of others doing similar work, who served on the national book awards. we have published together, introduce each other at various times. i love paul. i admire him. but most of all, i respect how he has imbibed the harsh liquor of true citizenship and survived.

in other words, his life and work gives hope to anyone who would dare to explore the dark spaces between the lines that demarcate the lives. paul coates. ♪ ♪ ♪[ applause ]

>> i really don't know who walter was talking about. when walter has done introductions before, i'm usually looking for somebody to come in with a cape because he is talking about superman and i sat there shrinking in my chair. but i thank you and i thank everyone tonight for this honor. o is here tonight, only in sp let me begin with a bunch of thank yous. by acknowledging someone who is here tonight only in spirit. glenn thompson of writers and

readers press. glenn was half insane and a fanatic about black book publishing. dan simon and i flew to london as he became an ancestor. his spirit and commitment to move black book publishing higher is ever present. it's alive in this room tonight. i also want to thank my wonderful wife who is at the table with me, roselyn coates for always supporting me. just being there as love for me. she represents love. [ applause ] i also love walter mosley. i mean, i really love this guy.

we published "gone fishing" together 28 years ago. we came together and became friends and brothers. my journey through life is better because of you, walter mosley. i appreciate you so much. [ applause ] let me thank the national book foundation and its board for this year's celebration and for the work you do every day to make this world livable for the entire literary community. i thank you for that work and for your acknowledgement of me. neil baldwin, former director of the national book foundation, brenda green from national black writers conference, troy johnson

of aalbc and publishers group west, our distributor. thank you guys for being here, lending me your support. black classic press is part of a group of o-line black line publishers that includes third world press, africa world press and just us books. these legacy publishers are survivors from the civil rights and human rights battles of the '60s and '70s along with universal write press. we work every day to maintain and expand black self-narrating voices. we each have different focus. my focus is resistive black voices that assert and confirm the right of black people to advocate and express themselves in a world quick to deny our

humanity. for black people, our enslavement was what we call a great, catastrophic disaster. to survive that, my ancestors had to have stories of something better. stories of the past and stories of the future. which could only be expressed aspirationally. despite penalties of death and torture, those found their way into print as stories about ourselves and our view of the world from our perspective. my ancestors understood the power in frederick douglass asking what to the slave is the 4th of july and asking emphatically, ain't i a woman?

. they cherished the rights of free people everywhere. the right to speak in our own voice, our own style without the permission of others. especially those who sought to keep us enslaved, ban our aspirations, our books and our humanity. using self-narrating voices in 1827, john rusworn and samuel brusworth founded it with the laration we wish to plead our own cause. for too long others have spoken for us. david walker used that voice in 1829 and markus guardus. in 1921, they formed the associated publishers to publish books written from the perspective of our

self-narrating voices. the voices told black aspirations, sharing them with america and the world. it took me a while to figure out, because i am a late coming follower, that i also am in that tradition. my mission is recovery and making black self-narrating voices known to the world. i am not an interpreter. i prefer to let those voices speak to new generations for themselves. i obsessively curate the voices, especially the old forgotten ones. the more obscure, the more important. those voices are all black classics to me. i publish them knowing that they are critical to fully

understanding and making sense of the brightly colored mosaic that is american and world history. if those voices are not present, the result is a drab, washed out monotone of history and a narration where some awful person steps up and insists that slavery was a necessary experience that taught black people many valuable skills. i can't let that happen. to do this work and to be supported by my community as i have been since 1972 and to be recognized for that work tonight is humbling. it is also a remind er that all voices are important and that

all stories are important. thank you all and thanks again to the national book foundation. [ cheers and applause ] ♪♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> incredible.me we will continue tonight's celebration with the presentation of the 2024 medal for distinguished contribution to american letters. each year the medal is given to a writer who enriched our cultural heritage over the course of their career. previous recipients are tony morrison, art speigleman and rita dove. [ applause ]

tonight's honoree has offered us some of the most significant literature of the 21st century, ranging from fiction to poetry to investigative journalism to science writing. here to present the medal this evening is sam stoloff. sam is the president and principle of the francis golden literary agency founded by francis golden in 1977. sam joined the agency in 1997 and is a member of the board of directors of the association of american literary agents. gives me great pleasure to welcome sam stoloff. [ applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ >> they didn't tell me when i

first became a literary agent that this was part of the job description or i might have chosen a different line of work. we agents are more used to hiding comfortably in the acknowledgement section of our authors' books rather than standing up on stage introducing them. i owe my place here on this stage to barbara, of course. also to francis golden, the founder of the agency i now head. [ applause ] who some of you, of course, knew. when barbara was looking for a literary agent in the 1980s, back when people looked for agents in the literary reference books, one listing jumped out at her. it read in part, no racist, sexist, ic material considered. she said, that's the agent for me.me francis was not only a fierce

advocate for barbara's work but something of a jewish mother barbara and me. that's the thread that connects us. if she could have been here, she would have been kvelling. barbara's contributions have been varied. more than i could do justice to. what i would say above all is that barbara has always been ahead of her time, showing us the way. she was reviving the social novel at a time when ironic detachment and interest introspection was still big. later in the majestic the poison wood bible, she was writing fiction about climate change before it was a thing.

in novels like flight behavior, which sounded an early alarm about how environmental disasters would devastate human communities in ways we see so clearly now. she trained as a biologist, her writing has been clear-eyed about the ways humans are embedded in ecosystems rather than standing apart from them. she was advocating for local and seasonal eating when it was a new idea. in the memoir she wrote with her family about the year they spent eating only what could be grown near their home. she's a writer/farmer in the tradition of her fellow kentuckian wendell berry.ha she eats from her garden as those of you who follow her on instagram have seen. she knits with wool that -- from the sheep she raises. she was writing about the dispossession of rural working

people long before we became preoccupied with the regional schisms in our country.pp all of these things are gathered in her most recent novel, the stunning demon copperhead. inspired by charles dickens and has kinship with mark twain. barbara has given up the huck fin of our times. she has done all this with a warmth and humor and ear for appalachian speech, a wealth of metaphor that are her trademarks. i am glad that the national book foundation calls this a prize for distinguished contribution rather than lifetime achievement. although, they do call it that.a if you look closely at the website.

artists are naturally sub stigsous about having their work prematurely summed up. barbara is at the height of her powers. so we have so much more to look forward to. with that, it is my honor to present on behalf of the national book foundation the medal for distinguished contribution to american letters to my dear friend, the great barbara king-solver. [ applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪

>> thanks, sam. sorry i made you do that. you knocked it out of the park. you look so beautiful. for people who usually go to work in sweat pants. or is that just me? this is an honor i never imagined. and will never forget. and i am so grateful to all the people that paul had the gracious presence of mind to thank. i thank them, too. the implication of an award like this, as sam implied, is that you have been around for a lifetime. and i have.

i've written through crises that seemed unsurvivable to me, through administrations that rose and fell. i've seen total eclipses of the sun. so cri know that when everythin goes dark, the sun is still up there. when i was new to this profession, the goal of our art was to be perfect and contained and morally disengaged. art that made people uncomfortable was likely to get scolded by critics. i know this from experience. but it's all i knew how to do. i come from people who aren't in this room, who have never been in a room like this or in this city or maybe not in any city. maybe not even very far from

where they were born. i write with their hearts in my throat. the kinds of stories that i grew up hungry for. underpinned with hard questions about class and power and how we got to this place where so many people are left outside hungry. readers got it. they lived in that world, too. and book sellers and librarians and my wonderful publisher, harper collins has always had my back. but there were headwinds. the headwinds were always there. the people that are there to let you know, you are not going to get in the club if you talk that much about ordinary folk. i have lived long enough to see that change. maybe those s retired.

maybe so many writers pulled up their chairs to the table, so many of you, that we had to get a new table. the rowdy one where we ask the big, scary, uncomfortable questions and stake our hearts on the people and the places that really need us. artists get called a lot of dreamy things. we're lighthouses. we're visionaries. we are soothers of the savage breast. maybe. but i think we're at our best when we're disrupters. [ applause ] when we rattle self-absorption and the lazy belief that my best interests are everybody's best interests. we get to crack people open.

unself-ing. we use or best, beautiful tricks to lure people into letting go of themselves for a little while so they can look into the soul of another human. because that empathy, my friends, is our salvation. as james baldwin told us, we are still each other's only hope. the fact of me standing here with you with this old medal around my neck feels like a miracle to a country girl from kentucky in the disguise of a sparkly dress. i'm so happy, not so much for me, but for all of us and the seismic shift in the rules of our art and who gets to play.

i'm proud of the respect we have finally learned to give in this country to art that engages with the real ruckus of the world. the thrill of that engagement gets me up in the morning and will keep getting me up for all the tomorrows i have, which i'm banking on a good many of them, even on the days when i've been smacked down for the truths i believe in and the people and the places i love. and i will confess, i'm feeling smacked down at the moment. maybe you are, too. here is what i know. truth and love have been struck down so many times in history before now. truth because it is often inconvenient. and love because it's vulnerable. but truth is like gravity and

the sun behind the eclipse. it doesn't matter what rules people make up. it's still there. love stays alive if you tend it. our job is to remember what there is to love, the people and places that need us to bring them into the room, into the heart of the unacquainted stranger. our job is to invent a better ending than the sorry one we were given. nobody can take care of everything at once. it's still worth taking care of something, because there are so many of us to do it. we're not erased. we are still here. like gravity. like the sun behind the eclipse. thank you. [ cheers and applause ]

♪♪ >> please welcome david steinberger. chair of the national board of directors. ♪♪ >> good evening. on behalf of the board of directors of the national book foundation, welcome to the 75th national book awards. [ applause ] 75 year ss. where are my friends from hashet

and david shelley? david moved from the uk to the u.s. about a year ago, right? i felt i had to explain to him that i understand in the uk 75 years is not that big a deal. right? twining tea they started making in the 1700s. but here in the united states, 75 years is a really big deal. to get to 75 years, you need a lot of help from a lot of people. i get to say thank you. i want to start by saying thank you to everybody with us tonight, the 800 people in the room, and the people joining us, thousands of them from their homes. so thank you for being here with us. [ applause ]

and thank you to all our sponsors who make this evening possible, particularly i want to ,thank our platinum sponsors, te najafi companies, penguin random house. thank you to our gold sponsor amazon literary partnership. silver sponsors, amazon, mgm studios, barnes & noble, bpg, central national gottsman. thank you mcmillan publishers and simon and shuster. thank you all. [ applause ] thank you also to the following individuals for their exceptional generosity. karen and marcus dolay, the susan s. and kenneth l. wallick

foundation. tell susan we thanked her, ken. deborah wylie, thank you. one final thank you. i'm going to ask some of the people in this room to stand up. if you are a national book award honoree past or present, that's a finalist, a long lifter or a national book award winner, 535, could you please stand right now? thank you. [ cheers and applause ] not done. all right. okay. stay standing here. if you are a board member of the national book foundation, current or past, please stand up. all right? [ applause ]

lastly, if you are a member of the national book foundation staff, past or present, please join us and stand up. [ applause ] please look around. you are all part of our 75-year history. thank you all. [ applause ] we >> we have a brief video about the work we do guided by our mission, which i think some of you know i never get tired of reciting. our mission is to celebrate the best literature published in the united states, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in our culture. thank you, everybody. [ applause ] ♪♪

>> the national book award embodies the value of creativity. >> this is a luminous novel. half is literally hard labor. spent searching for the right words to suit an event over which one has had no control. >> through the ruthless intimacy of literature. >> a craft that appears solitary but needs a mother for its completion. >> certainly all too frequently it has been the writer and not the politician who has been the truer friend of liberty. >> books have exhausted me and helped me discover more of myself. that's the power of a story well told. >> rea teacher in elementary school who told me, read, my child, read. i tried to read everything. >> books are us. books are our ideas, our heart.

books are our place where we can imagine. our first step towards changing the world. >> they contain histories. they are useful in building movements. they are useful in inspiring future generations.ut they have a transformative power to them. >> the national book foundation has broadened people's ideas about what good literature is, where good atstories come from. they are open to all the books and all the stories and all the writers. the national book foundation is bringing attention to communities that have not been represented in literature. and that culture of reading is enlarging our capacity for empathy and hopefully that has real world repercussions. >> there's thno better way to connect writers to their audiences. the national book foundation helped bridge that gap. you don't have to be in major cities to see an author at the

peak of their talent and their abilities. >> it's obvious to me the national book foundation cares about capturing the totality of the american experience. it doesn't exist everywhere in the literary world. within the national book foundation, that has been a process. we're seeing that as the juries diversify. so do the nominees. in fact, so does what we learn about the american experience. >> when you look at all of the books that have been honored by the national book awards, their breadth and depth, and just the sheer range of titles and genres, there's a sense of an egoist that looked beyond to push the boundaries. it's not just celebrating books and readers of today but the readers of tomorrow. that's a real joyness in the way that operates to promote and support access to books for those who might not have it.m, >> it does feel some of that

early childhood dream of wanting to be a team. this is the team i can claim, team book. >> being a part of team book, it just makes you feel like you are not the only one that loves books, that wants to open those books up and learn more. >> being part of team book is being part of a community standing up and cheering for books. to say, they are powerful and important and critical and essential. >> for the next 75 years, the national g book foundation will owkeep celebrating the best boo published in the united states, will keep bringing writers and books to readers all over the country. >> viwe will keep leaning into, how can we most expansively and inclusively think about that work? >> literature provides us with things no other art form does. we need readers. we need books to help lead us and inform us. the national book foundation can play a crucial role in all of that. >> hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of

writers who can see alternatives. >> the storyteller cannot afford to forget and must be ready to hold himself or herself to account. >> it's about making it possible for the entitled as well as the dispossessed to experience one's own mind dancing with another's. >> to live over the course of a few pages in the experiences of another. to create a world where we can all be free. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> please welcome to the stage, ruth dicky, executive director of the national book foundation. [ applause ]

>> good evening. good evening, everyone.e is this on? can you hear me? good evening, everyone. i love niin the video hearing je and jen talk about what it means to them to be part of team book. as i look around this room tonight, i see so many incredible members of team book joind joined by thousands of readers tuning in rnaround the world. together, we are the people who believe that books matter and who help connect them with readers of all ages in all corners of the country. thank you for being part of the best team. as we just heard, hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives. as we witness and battle mounting book bans and attacks on free expression, we know that hard times are not only coming,

but they are here already. we all want and need the perspectives, possibilities and empathy that books can inspire. we must come together to stand up for books, for the next 75 years and beyond. we launched a new teacher fellowship prioritizing states with the most book bans. we have distributed over 2 million new books to young people and families living in public housing communities. [ cheers and applause ] over the past five years, we have brought free books and free events with national book award honored writers to all 50 states, d.c., and puerto rico. but we truly cannot do this work without you. if you believe in the power of literature, we need each and

every one of you to invest in the future of books and readers. you will find qr codes on your tables as well as paper a envelopes. we will have collection boxes and staff at the door to help collect any physical donations. your support of any amount will help us stand up for books and reach readers all year long. hard outimes are coming. we need you. books need all of us. as you make your donations, which i hope you do, i would love to thank a few more people. immense to tonight's host, kate mckinnon for bringing laughter to tonight's celebrations.he huge thanks also to our special guest john batiste for the gift of his music.th thank you to the national book foundation board of directors, book council, host committee and after party committee for your time and leadership.

i love the screams. thank you to the empire state building for helping mark 75 years by lighting up national book foundation blue. [ applause ] many thanks to really useful media, our partners on the beauty video you saw and on tonight's broadcast. thanks to cspan and our designers, chips and jarafong. last but not least, thank you to the volunteers, interns and small but mighty staff of the national book foundation. [ cheers and applause ] i'm going to tell you all their names, because i want them spoken in the room. ali, emily, erika, julia, lily, natalie, meg, meghan, ricardo. special extra thanks to madeleine, our senior manager of awards and honors.

[ applause ] also a huge thank you to meredith who after 29 years with the national book foundation will celebrate her final national book award ceremony on staff this evening. can we give them all a round of applause? [ applause ] now, it's my great honor to welcome back to the stage, the one and only john batiste. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪ don't stop dreaming ♪ ♪ don't stop believing ♪ ♪ because you know that our time is coming up ♪ ♪ so let's soak up the days ♪ ♪ and dance the night away ♪ ♪ so with all you've got ♪ ♪ don't stop ♪ ♪ don't stop dreaming ♪ ♪ don't stop believing ♪ ♪ because you know that our time

is coming up ♪ ♪ let's soak up the days and dance the night away ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ i heard there was a secret code ♪ ♪ that david played and it pleased the lord ♪ ♪ but you don't really care for music, do ya ♪ ♪ it goes like this and the fourth, the fifth, the minor

fall and the major lift ♪ ♪ the bible can compose it, alleluia ♪ ♪ alleluia ♪ ♪ alleluia ♪ ♪ alleluia ♪ ♪ alleluia ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪ don't stop dreaming ♪ ♪ don't stop believing ♪ ♪ because you know that our time is coming up, so with all you've got, don't stop ♪ ♪ oh when the saints go marching in, oh when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪ oh, how i want to be in that number ♪ ♪ when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ let me hear you. ♪ oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪ oh, when the saints go marching in ♪ ♪ how i want to be in that number ♪ ♪ when the saints go marching in ♪

♪♪ ♪♪ thank you! [ cheers and applause ] ♪♪ >> jon batiste! [ screaming ] i have to say, guys, i'm feeling some things i haven't felt in ae while. inspiration. hope. good. and now i have the pleasure of kicking off the final chapter of this evening's program, hello,

the presentation of the 2024 national book awards! [ cheers and applause ] okay, so, guys, so not everyone knows this but part of what makes this evening so special is that none of us, except for each category's judges, know who the winners of the national book awards are in advance. nobody! earlier today, the five judges in each awards category made their final decisions.er tonight, we will hold our breath in anticipation as the award winners are announced live from the stage by each panel chair. the winners are going to be ,presented in reverse alphabetical order. that's young people's literature, translated literature, and then poetry and then non-fiction and finally fiction. the awards ies in the

panel ir will be helping us. first up the finalist for young people's literature. [ cheers and applause ] that's introduced by the voice of actor, comedian and writer, jenni slate. let's go. >> young people's literature opens our eyes to worlds of possibility. through fiction, non-fiction and verse, the finalists for the 2024 national book award for young people's literature teach young readers the importance of preserving history and ancestral memory, the life changing power of self-acceptance and friendship and the significance of living in the present moment. these stories serve as a remind that we are all capable of confronting our problems big and small and that we each hold the

key to freeing ourselves of expectations. the panel chair for this year's national book award for young people's literature is brein lopez. a book seller for three decades, lopez is an advocate for inclusion in all aspects of the children's book industry. >> thank you. [ applause ] first, i would like to thank my fellow judges at table 72. [ cheers and applause ] rose, hutama and mike for their commitment, passion and heart throughout this incredibly rewarding experience. our collective insight as authors, educators and book sellers allowed for profound discussions and consensus building to meet the criteria we set at the beginning of the journey. i would like to thank all of you

incredible authors in this room. i have been a book seller for almost 35 years. i worked with the legendary glen goldman at book soup where i started in los angeles. [ applause ] for those three decades, i have shared your books. you have given the gift of your writing with generations of book lovers. i have allowed -- you have allowed readers to see themselves and each other through your creativity. it is made my chosen career incredibly fulfilling and impactful. my fellow book sellers, educators, librarians and teachers are on the front line every single day in this country, facing termination, facing all sorts of horrible situations where the joy of their life and their career is tabeing stopped. it's because of the books that we share, the books that share empathy, the books that share joy, the books that share

understanding, books that you have written, books that so many other wonderful authors have written. the finalist for the national book award, all of the authors did exactly that. they are violet duncan, nancy paulson books and penguin house. aaron kelly, the first state ofs being, green willow books, harper collins publisher. shefa safadi, books for young readers, penguin random house. angela shonte, the unboxing of a black girl, and this year's national book saward for young people's literature goes to --

karmmeem batweem. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> thank you so much. [ speaking in non-english ] thank you for allah for blessing

me and honoring me with the ability to uplift mohamed. i'm thrilled to be here. thank you everyone involved in making this beautiful event happen. to my fellow nominees, it has been inspiring to read my words and your words along mine and i poured over your books with great admiration. thank you to my sister for watching my kids so i can be here. it was not an easy task. there are four of them. my parents for always believing in me. they came from syria to give us a better life. it was a struggle. with the new culture and language. they showed us what it looked like to be proud, strong muslims. i wouldn't be who i am without my parents. thank you to my siblings, in-laws, family, community for all their continued support. thank you to my husband for being the best life partner.

for being the reason i'm up here today. i would not be an author without him. thank you to my kids. my biggest inspiration, motivation and greatest gift from allah. i'm most proud of being their mother. i promised my son i would say this. go chicago bears! writing is a team effort. thank you to everyone at dream team, my agent janine lee who loved it from the first read and champions all my work with compassion and care. my brilliant editor, who truly infuses magic in every edit and whose insight makes every word and my heart shine. shoutout to her, two years ago, she was here. she's that awesome. thank you to simone roberts payne, jen and every single person at penguin young readers.

a special thank you to my publicist as well as the school library team for advocating and loving this book. thank you to the many wonderful people who have encouraged me along the way. thank you to the muslim authors who stepped forward first and paved wait for me to be inspired to follow my dream of writing. i would not have had the bravery of writing my first words if i had not seen muslim books on the shelf. i would never have believed i could do it if i had not read the words of people before me who showed me what it looks like. so often i saw books where muslims were the villains. i'm glad i got to write a story where we're the heroes. getting in between was a historical fiction narrative. a story about justice, about standing up against racism, about being proud of who you are. a story about something that happened eight years ago. it's not historical fiction

anymore. it does n not apply to only tha time or only the muslim ban.an our work does not stop in 2020. in fact, dehumanization of arabs and islamaphobia has been rising this past year to justify a genocide of the palestinian people. [ applause ] justice and freedom is for all people. all of our liberations are tied together. from people in sudan, in congo and syria and here in america and in our hearts. change starts with each of us. we have to stand together, protest injustice no matter where it is and continue to bespeak the truth. even when we are afraid of the future. as one of my favorite picture books says, bravery comes with shaky hands. so be brave and free palestine!

[ cheers and applause ] >> congratulations to the winner of the 2024 national book award for young people's literature. now, for the finalists for the 2024 national book award for translated literature, introduced by the voice of director, actor and author ethan hawk. >> literature in translation is our gateway to the world. translated into english from arabic, french, chinese and swedish, the finalists for the n 2024 national book award for translated literature grapple with the global rise in book banning, explore the cultural erasing nof indigenous familie and consider the search for truth and stability amidst political unrest.

they form cross-cultural friendships and fight to survive unspeakable violence. the panel chair for had year's national book award for translated literature is jhumpa lahiri. her story collection was awarded the 2000 pulitzer prize in fiction. ♪♪ [ applause ] >> good evening. the game of translation. the stakes of translation. the treveil of translation. the work of travel through a book on the other side of the border. go expecting trouble, go out prepared. i site rose mary walldrop, poet,

translator and co founder of burning deck press to remind us of what a risky endeavor translation is. translation has never been easy. but it has always been a necessary form of resistance. it is thanks to translation that literature by means of lynn quiz tick migration request freely communicate, circulate and endure. over the past six months, we have read books composed in 33 languages. certain themes stood out. portraits of loneliness, the human cost of war and colonial oppression and a world on the brink of environmental disaster. i would like to salute my fellow panel members for the intelligence and range of

perspectives they brought to each of our meetings and for the time and energy spent considering these books. arone, jennifer, gary and julia. [ applause ] we as a group would like to thank ruth dicky and madeleine the national book foundation for steering us through the process. we are grateful to the national book foundation for continuing to celebrate contemporary literature, composed in languages other than english, and to reward two creative writers together, the author of one book and the translator who transforms it into another. in this case, one of the books had two translators. i would just like to acknowledge that. last but not least, we hail

independent publishers and small presses. [ cheers and applause ] for continuing to serve as the main port of entry for translated literature in the united states. as the discourse of closed borders intensifies in this country and others, we applaud their efforts to center foreign titles on their lists and to enable translators to practice their unique, crucial labor. the finalists in this category are, bothena el essa, translated from the arabic by ronya rahkman, restless books.

linea axleson, translated from the swedish, by saskia vogle, penguin randomhouse. fiston muzila, the villain's dance, translated from the french, by roland glaser. yang schwang si, translated from mandarin chinese by lynn king, gray wolf press. samar yazbek, where the wind calls home, translated from the arabic by larry price, world editions.

and the winners of the 2024 national book award in translated literature are, yang schwang si and lynn king for "taiwan travelogue." [ cheers and applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ your show of war was made by

genesis was also the horseshoe sort o [ speaking in global language ] a in ebay news. you login here on the tonga divining line will be an ac or is a some menial chung da which is to be tinder new york, georgia uses taiwan in naval the whose island torture journal young, [ speaking in a global language ] ever or should

you so avoid taiwan george in the old says you the soldier or shoe shall you just go all the way down thank you. this is [ cheers and applause ] . >> this is what she said. some people ask me why i write about things from 100 years ago. i always tell them writing about the past is a means of moving toward the future. more than a century ago, some taiwanese people began making the assertion taiwan belongs to the many taiwanese, and now we are addressing it to a different

audience. before we were saying it to the japanese. now we are saying it to the chinese. for more than a century in between, taiwan has never stopped facing the threat of invasion from another powerful nation, and meanwhile internally the taiwanese have a complicated relationship, and some of us still identify as chinese, just as some of us used to identify as japanese. i write in order to answer the question of what is a taiwanese person, i write about taiwan's past and a step into its future. thank you so much to the foundation for recognizing us, which i think we both know is a recognition for the place that we come from, taiwan.

thank you so much to gray wolf press, especially -- [ cheers and applause ] >> i especially our editor for believing in us. thank you so much. ♪♪ congratulations to the winners of the 2024 national book award for translated literature. and now for the finalists for the 2024 national book award for poetry introduced by the voice of singer/songwriter, actor, ms.

monet. >> it reflects on the enter workings of the human mind, and the ongoing wager of palestinianen people, and contemplate home and indigenous identity in the united states. these works investigate the power and shortcomings of contemporary poetry, while simultaneously reclaiming language as a tool for survivor, one that is essential to poets and readers alike. the panel chair for this year's national book award for poetry is the recipient of the 2023 national humanities medal.

[ cheers and applause ] good evening, everyone. as my cuban mother would say, [ speaking in global language ] and this is such an beautiful space. it has been an amazing privilege, to say the least, to serve as chair and judge and a fantastic journey, really, a journey into the essences of the poets that reread, and a journey into the vibrancy of what american poetry is all about, as well as very importantly, an unforgettable journey alongside my fellow distinguished judges

for immensely talented, sensitive and insightful poets that changed my life. let us all give each of them a heartfelt thanks. carolyn foreshea, if you are here, wave your hand. i have not seen some of them. ma . one of the things that i learned serving as a chair or as a judge, that we have bonded for >> one of the things i have seen chairing as a judge, we have seen something very important to us, and that's another great gift of what the national -- the national book foundation does for us.

their dedicated passion and work coupled with the mission of the national book foundation serve life questioning, life affirming and life enriching power, which, of course, a cliche that has actually come back to life when we most need poetry, to serve as a consolation to guide us through our storms of hatred and despair, towards the horizons f reconciliation and hope. to tell the truth is to become

beautiful, to love yourself and value yourself, and that's political in its most profound way. we were quite impressed, of course, in many ways, in many respect, by the hundreds of collections that we thoughtfully considered. we were especially armed by the incredible breath and diversity of the many voices, styles, subjects, themes that we encountered. it thrills me to say or to report that without a doubt the state of poetry is, indeed, alive and well. [ applause ] >> thank goodness. and thanks to the courageous and encouraging work of the many

poets we deliberated, and of course, those that were short listed and the fine list of tonight, all of whom moved as profoundly, in different and very important ways. the finalists for the national book award for poetry is "new directions." "fighting judah" yeah, i know, i feel it with you. ms red cherries. for mother penguin books, penguin random house.

gray wolf press. lena hela for something about living, the university of akron. drum roll. and this year's national award for poetry goes to -- lena -- [ applause ] >> i don't even need to finish the name. ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ okay, they were right. it's heavy.

[ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. good evening, everyone. good morning to bethesda, where it's the 411th day of the genocide. i was actually thinking of sharing that quote richard did from one of my heroes, june jordan, who talks about loving yourself enough to become beautiful, to tell the truth, and we are now living in the second november of the american-funded genocide in palestine. i hope that every one of us can love ourselves enough to stand up and to make it stop.

our service is needed as writers. our service is needed as human beings in every room, in every space, especially where there is something to risk, where there is an opportunity to be lost, where that courage will really cost you. that's what's most needed. i don't want to write anything that is a consolation. i don't want to console. i want us to feel just a tiny fraction -- a tiny fraction more than we do in our deeply comfortable american lives despite all the pain and suffering that is here to -- i want us to feel and be

uncomfortable and be disoriented and be angry, and get up and demand that any administration no matter what letter it has at the ends of its name d, r, whatever, that any administration that we pay for should stop funding and arming a genocide there. my father was born in jerusalem, palestine, and he sat me down at age five and told me about the homeland he could not live in

anymore, and that story has carried me through my entire life, has driven me, has motivated me. i am proud to stand here today and to accept this honor as a palestinian american on behalf of all the deeply beautiful palestinians this world has lost, and in honor of those miraculous ones that endure waiting for us, waiting for us to wake up. thank you so much. [ applause ] ♪♪ congratulations to the winner of the 2024 national book award for poetry.

now for the finalist of nonfiction, introduced by singer-songwriter, actor, demi lovato. >> examine the fracturing of a progressive church as it seeks to embrace anti-semitism, and explore one family's displacement within the united states across generations to integrate the very idea of american history and american identity. the panel chair for this year's national book awards is a professor at the university of

north carolina chapel hill. >> announcer: now, let's please welcome to the stage, nonfiction judge, timothy morton. >> hello, everybody. hi. i'm not -- thank you for laughing at that. my name is tim, and as you can tell from my accent, i'm from texas. i think i ought to take to opportunity to apologize, and that's the whole point of the thing we call nonfiction, isn't it. i don't mean you have to be from texas to write nonfiction. sometimes reality doesn't turn out the way we expect, and we

need witnesses to that, we need to figure out our bearings. we need to learn how to feel in a new situation and change it, and sometimes reality is stranger than fiction and in these daunting and turbulent minds, we need to encounter the word and take risks. social media already knows what that needs, and conspiracy theories already knows who we are, and fiction is to share that heart with everybody so we can make the future be different from the past. the books we chose were uniquely powerful in taking the reader on a journey into an unexpected reel. from a close-up study of human smuggling, to a painfully moving

account of a christian community trying to figure out how to work with the uncollusion and exclusion on the deepest levels. from intervention to dominate and discipline and medicalize bodies for-profit. to a book that is another america of indigenous people existing alongside another part we know too well. i took my own book out of the running, in book stores now. the panel had no difficulty choosing the actual finalists. i am so touched and grateful to all of them for the journey we went on. i would like to thank the other four judges from the bottom of

my heart. brenda j. chiles. [ applause ] tracy macmillan cotton. [ applause ] . yeah. and arvind rangula. thank you for letting me part of this. as a scholar, i don't get out much and i like to see the oval ops from somebody. we have so much more in common than stuff that divided us. we are all grateful to the national book awards for their guidance and wisdom through this process. and we were absolutely unanimous is selecting our five finalist. the five finalists for nonfiction are "soldier and kings, survival and hope in the world of human smuggling."

penguin random house. a life of griswold, circle of hope. macmillan publishers. kate mann, unshrinking. solomon rusty, "knife." and penguin random house. debra jackson harper, "whisky tender." and the winner is trace and de leon. ♪♪ [ applause ] ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ applause ] my children will be very sad to know i didn't get to hug kate mackinnon.

maybe that's still a possibility. [ applause ] if you manifest it. it will if you manifest it, it will come. my editor says you got to write something in case this happens, so i went and wrote something, and i am not even supposed to be up here, but i am grateful to be up here. thank you to the national book foundation and the judges for putting up here, and to my fellow finalists, long listers or short listers who reminded me i have a good bout of imposture syndrome. this was a project about a bunch

of banged up and beaten up people who refused to give up hope, and it all started with this kid named chino who said to me, how come nobody listens to us? i wish that he was here today, because i think he would get a kick out of the fact that people are listening to his words now. this award is for him, and all mow, marina, kingston and all those trying to make ends meet and do the right thing while keeping hope alive. thank you to the bingham family, including my mother-in-law for watching the kids right now. i want to give a shout to the wonderland crew, and we could not have written this book without singing karaoke. trent, denny and the kids, thank

you. mike wealth, you are my brother. my other brother, jeff bezos, love you so much. my mom, margaret anderson, who always said do what you love and that's all that matters. austin shipman who keeps fighting the good fight. kate marshal, for teaching me to write and love it. my wonderful therapist, teresa lacasio. this book broke me in half and she showed me there's a lot of darkness and pain i have been running from this whole life, and she duct ped me back together, and the folks at viking, amazing, just made this

whole thing -- paloma, ruiz, kate burner, these folks who just do the work of the book making which is so important and i want to recognize that this is a team effort, this whole thing, so [ applause ] >> when i was trying to pick a press, they said don't pick it because the editor will leave, and i wanted to go with viking and i loved meeting my future editor, emily wonderlick, and from the very beginning i was, like, i want to work with her and i wouldn't be here without the trust, guidance and the magic wand the editors wave over her manuscripts. beth fleming, it took 30 seconds for me to be like, her, in my

corner all the time, my first reader and life coach and all the things, she believed in the book before it started, so thank you margot for everything. i have another half baked book i am about to pitch you, so it's coming. my funny, kind and patient and beautiful wife, abigail, thank you so much. i cannot sum up everything i feel for you. you are my world. you were here from the very beginning, so i am glad to be here with you, and that's -- it's -- thank you. last but not least, my two kids, who are probably watching lord of the wings or "snl" close encounter skits. they were the most excited about that. if you could get an autograph or video or photo, so i might ask for one more of those things. if you manifest it. i want to say, those little

guys, they inspire me every day and they remind me that i refuse to live in a world without hope, and i will not [ applause ] -- i will -- i will not accept the dystopian american future of corruption, mass deportation, transphobia, climate change denial and all this other garbage this incoming administration wants to profit from. we will not accept that. we will not. i have more hope now than ever before. and these storytellers i am so grateful to be in the room with, i know you will help us find our way. my kids have a band and i play bass in it, and they are about

to kick me out when they find somebody that can play bass, and let's read band books and we will need them in the future ahead. thank you so much. ♪♪ congratulations to the winner of the 2024 national book award for nonfiction. now for the finalists for the 2024 national book award for fiction introduced by the voice of golden globe and emmy-award winning actor, sandra o. >> the finalists for the 2024 national book award for fiction introduce us to protag northwest

that reclaim their own narrative and humanity directly from the oppressor's text, through reading. we see these characters grapple in what it means to remain loyal to people. critique, center and celebrate the written word. the panel chair for this year's national book award for fiction is lauren graph, a national three-time book award in fiction. well, hello. i have never seen this view before. it's spectacular. so many of us, had has been a

hard year. i have heard people i love in their despair questioning the worst of reading or writing fiction during times like these. i do understand the urge and the turn away from pleasure. it feels sinful when one thinks about the suffering of others and it can feel like escapism. i believe the art is the refinement for all that is good and noble and worthy in humanity, and denning art, denning pleasure is denning the best part of who we are, the divinity that burns like an ember in each fragile human chest. there's communities so strong they can protect the vulnerable and fiction is the truth about staring directly at it the way we should not stare at the sun during an eclipse or we risk

burning our retinas. turning away from pleasure, from art, from fiction is like turning away from the reasons why we cite for more dignity. the fiction panel was a feast of love. through health crisis and tech gremlins, they remains cool. we worked beautifully together to make these short and long list. thank you to my fellow judges, jamie forest, khella mcgonai and

chet knight. one brief note to the finalists. i have been where you are and i want to tell you that though you may not be able to hear me through the blood pounding through your ears right now, but every one of you deserves to win this award. we thank you for giving your gift to us. now, the finalist for the national book awards for fiction are norton, ww norton and company, and martyr, randomhouse, and everett james, miranda july, river head books, penguin random house.

and randomhouse, penguin has not dumb house. and the winner is everett -- [ applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ if there are a few horses in

here, i feel a lot if there were two horses in here, i would feel a lot better. i want to thank the national book foundation and the judges for putting their reputations on the line here. just like kate, i am not very good at this so i did appeal to the chatgpt, and then i asked the apple intelligence on my phone to improve it and then i gave it a pass to siri and alexa fixed it up. and i came up with this. now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of the party, though this is, no doubt, very true, it's a terrible

acceptance speech and i apologize. it's yet another illustration that artificial intelligence is no substitute for the real thing. two weeks ago i was feeling pretty low, and to tell the truth, i still feel pretty low. as i look out at this, so much excitement about books, i have to say i do feel some hope. it's important to remember, and i said that last time, that hope is really no substitution for strategy. i owe a lot of thanks to my publisher, bill thomas. to my sac

>> to my sadistic publicist, michael goldsmith, and to everybody at double day. i have to say that i also owe some thanks to gray wolf press. [ applause ] >> and my editor there for 30 years, mccray. and with great affection, somebody i call the mob boss, my agent, melanie jackson. who just tonight asked me, how

many hours did you spend on the new novel? and i have to thank my teenage sons, henry and myles, whose near complete apathy about my career helps me to keep things in perspective. and, as always, my best friend and wife, nancy. thank you. [ applause ] ♪♪ so you know, that was it. that was the whole thing, and i feel personally personally et

tpaoeued. thank you especially to john batiste, and congratulations to all the finalists and winners and thank you for all being here, and let's get back to work. good night! please join us on the phez after party. c-span has a number of podcast for you. listen to best selling authors and influential interviews on the podcast, and on q & a, hear wide ranging conversations who are making things happen. they are weekly hour-long

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democracy. >> this is also a massive victory for democracy and for freedom. weekends on c-span 2, every saturday american history tv documents america's story, on sunday's the latest authors. it comes from these television companies and more. nearly 30 years ago, media.com was founded on an idea. from coast-to-coast, our team broke speed barriers and delivered 1 gig speeds to customers. now with media