Booker Shortlist Has Big Names But No Mitchell

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is unique in that the longlist (or pool of nominees) is not created from submissions by publishers. Instead libraries throughout the world nominate books, resulting in a very long longlist that spans many countries. Eventually, the list is whittled way down to a shortlist by a panel of judges who then goes on to name a winner. Another result of the nominating process is that, by the time the award is handed out on June 14th, 2006, the winning book could be as much as two years old. Despite all this, a look at the past winners reveals an engaging and diverse batch of books. Still, perhaps this award could be better than it is. The Literary Saloon identifies some possible improvements, including a way to cut out the nationalism that pervades the longlist.

The 2013 National Book Award winners were announced tonight in New York City. The big prize for Fiction went to James McBride for The Good Lord Bird. Upon arriving at the podium to accept his honor, the noticeably shocked author quipped, “I didn’t think I would win today. … If any of the other writers had won, I wouldn’t feel bad because they are all fine writers, but it sure is nice to win.” His novel, a “literary rendering of John Brown,” the white abolitionist who led an unsuccessful raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859, deploys an artfulness and an irreverence that, according to one critic, “becomes not a lampooning of champions and calamities but a new kind of homage.”

The Nonfiction award went to George Packer for his “awe-inspiring X-Ray of the modern American soul,” The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America. Don’t miss our full review.

The Poetry award was won by Mary Szybist for Incarnadine. During her acceptance, the poet remarked that, “Poetry is the place where speaking differently is the most prevalent.” The winner in the Young People’s Literature category was Cynthia Kadohata for The Thing About Luck.

Earlier in the presentation, E.L. Doctorow accepted the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. As our own Bill Morris attests, the award was well-deserved.

Bonus Links: Earlier in the year we dove into both the Shortlist and the Longlist to share excerpts and reviews where available.