please welcome padma lakshmi. hi, everybody ready? how's everybody doing? i hope by you're a couple of drinks in. seriously. i want to thank you guys so much is my great honor to welcome everyone to the 73rd national book awards and to celebrate books together in person again after two years of being virtual all. we're all here united by a deep love of narrative, howard shapes who we are and how we understand world. when i found my way to writing professionally it was like most things in my life through cooking and believe that food like books can tell story by creating a sense of excuse me, by creating sense memory capturing feeling, sharing our and transporting us with the right combination of ingredients right back to our childhoods. being here tonight, the company of so many amazing young storytellers and the people who championed them, i'm struck the way books can also of course feed us by sparking ideas, exposing us to new people and cultures, and expanding understanding of the world. i wrote for neela a children's book about three generations of indi

i'm padma lakshmi. i came to this country when i was four years old with my mother.me here because it was a land of opportunity. but for many, that's not the case. immigrant families are being separated. black and brown families are torn apart by a broken legal system. lgbtq people suffer discrimination in adoption and health care. the need to protect and defend the civil liberties we all hold dear is more urgent than ever because families belong together. you can help by joining the american civil liberties union today. call or go online now and become an aclu guardian of liberty. all it takes is just $19 a month. only $0.63 a day. the aclu has fought to allow lgbtq couples to marry, for racial justice. to stop a family separation. we can't do this work without you. together we can defend our democracy, ensure liberty and justice for all, and keep families strong. so please call the aclu now or go to my aclu.org when you use your credit card, you'll receive this special member kit to show you're part of a movement to defend free speech, protect ou