Tag: National Book Awards (1-4 of 4)

Nov 18 2011 03:04 PM ET

Jesmyn Ward on winning the National Book Award -- plus, she takes the EW Book Quiz!

Filed under: Books and tagged: , , ,
Jesmyn-Ward

On Wednesday night, Jesmyn Ward joined the likes of William Faulkner and Jonathan Franzen when she won the National Book Award for fiction. Her novel, Salvage the Bones, is a searing portrait of a poor African American family living in coastal Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina. Ward took a moment to talk to EW about her big win and share some of her favorite books that inspire her as a writer.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Did any part of you think you would win?
JESMYN WARD: Not at all. I did not. [Laughs] You know, I’d written an acceptance speech just in case, because I figured I had a 20 percent chance of winning, but I did not expect to win. Actually, as they were announcing the winners in each category on Wednesday night, I just kept telling myself to breathe. I was mentally preparing myself to smile and clap and be happy for whoever won, and I just knew that was not going to be me. When they read my name aloud, I don’t think it registered until my publicist grabbed me by the shoulders, said my name very loudly, and shook me. That’s when it hit me that I’d actually won. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 17 2011 12:47 AM ET

National Book Awards: Jesmyn Ward wins fiction prize

Filed under: Books and tagged: ,
salvage-the-bone

Despite a major snafu last month, the 62nd National Book Awards named its winners as planned at a ceremony in New York City on Wednesday night. Jesmyn Ward won the fiction prize for her critically lauded but under-the-radar Salvage the Bones, a fierce, lyrical novel set against the tragic backdrop of Hurricane Katrina. The nonfiction honor went to Stephen Greenblatt for The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, and Nikki Finney picked up the poetry prize for Head Off & Split.

In perhaps the most fraught category this year — due to the brouhaha surrounding Lauren Myracle’s mistaken and eventually rescinded nomination — Thanhha Lai beat out the other finalists for the Young People’s literature award. Her novel centers on 10-year-old Ha, a girl whose life is forever changed when the Vietnam War ravages her hometown.

See below for a full list of winners and finalists: READ FULL STORY »

Oct 20 2011 01:30 PM ET

Spoof of the National Book Award snafu -- VIDEO

The National Book Awards nomination debacle — which began when the National Book Foundation mistakenly named Shine by Lauren Myracle as a contender for the young adult category instead of Chime by Franny Billingsley — is so ridiculous that it naturally invites parody. This video, animated in the text-to-voice style of the Xtranormal series of GEICO ads, spoofs the incident pretty much by recounting what actually happened. See the video below!

READ FULL STORY »

Oct 5 2011 09:57 AM ET

On the Books: Morgan Spurlock wants to hear about your failed novel, National Book Awards announce 5 under 35

morgan-spurlock

Image Credit: Jason Laveris/Filmmagic.com

++ Chad Harbach need not apply. For those of you (okay, us) who moonlight as authors but have failed to write the Great American Novel, filmmaker and author Morgan Spurlock might be looking to tell your story — especially since you haven’t been able to do it yourself yet. Spurlock’s camp posted a casting call on Mediabistro for dreamers, including starving writers, who might be looking to switch to the much more stable profession of documentary subject. At the very least, starring in a movie will give you great material.

From the posting: READ FULL STORY »

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