‘Trust Exercise’ wins 2019 National Book Award for fiction

Friday, 22 November 2019 Books+Publishing

In the US, the winners of the 2019 National Book Awards have been announced.

The winners in each category are:

Fiction

Trust Exercise (Susan Choi, Serpent’s Tail)

Nonfiction

The Yellow House (Sarah M Broom, Grove Press)

Poetry

Sight Lines (Arthur Sze, Copper Canyon)

Translated literature

Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming (László Krasznahorkai, trans by Ottilie Mulzet, Tuskar Rock)

Young people’s literature

1919: The year that changed America (Martin W Sandler, Bloomsbury).

The winners of the five categories were chosen from shortlists announced in October, and each winner receives a cash prize of US$10,000 (A$14,700), in addition to the US$1000 (A$1470) awarded to each shortlisted author.

The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters was awarded to author Edmund White, best known for his portrayals of gay American life in fiction and nonfiction. The Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community was presented to Oren Teicher, outgoing CEO of the American Booksellers Association, who had been in the role since 2009.

For more information see the National Book Foundation website.

Category: Awards International news