This week, The New Yorker will announce the long lists for the 2021 National Book Awards. So far, we have presented the lists for Children’s Literature, Translated Literature and Poetry. Come back tomorrow morning for Fiction.
Two titles on this year’s long list for the National Book Award for Nonfiction observe the cultural industry churn across American history. The New Yorker “The Free World” by writer Louis Menand, taken from this magazine, brings together personalities (Elvis, Norman Mailer), coteries (Beats, New Critics) and institutions (Black Mountain College, the federal government) who helped the United States become an exporter of culture during the Cold War. Hanif Abdurraqib’s “A Little Devil in America” is a lyrical celebration of black artists, from Merry Clayton to Dave Chappelle, and a scathing critique of how black expression is exploited.
The making of national narratives, especially on the theme of race, is a common theme among the award nominees. In “The Ground Breaking,” Scott Ellsworth argues that the Tulsa Race Massacre has been deliberately erased from the historical record and offers a carefully considered corrective. Deborah Willis, author of “The Black Civil War Soldier,” compiles photographs, letters and personal documents to highlight the little-known experiences of African Americans in the conflict. And “How the Word Is Passed,” by Clint Smith, covers nine sites, such as Angola Prison in Louisiana, Monticello and Lower Manhattan, that shed light on the history of slavery. The full list is below.
Hanif Abdurraqib, “A Little Devil in America: Black Performance Praise Notes“
Random House / Random House Penguin
Lucas bessire, “Running out: in search of water on the high plains“
Princeton University Press
Grace M. Cho, “It tastes like war: a memory“
Feminist press at the City University of New York
Scott Ellsworth, “The inauguration: an American city and its quest for justice“
Dutton / Random House Penguin
Nicole eustache, “Covered by Night: A Tale of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America“
Liveright / WW Norton & Company
Heather McGhee, “Our sum: what racism costs everyone and how we can thrive together“
One World / Random Penguin House
Louis menand, “The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War“
Farrar, Straus & Giroux / Macmillan editions
Tiya miles, “All She Wore: Ashley’s Sack Journey, A Memory of the Black Family“
Random House / Random House Penguin
Clint smith, “How the word got around: taking stock of the history of slavery across America“
Little, Brown and Company / Hachette Book Group
Deborah Willis, “The Black Soldier of the Civil War: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship“
New York University Press
This year’s category judges are Nell Painter, author of “The history of whitesAnd the Chairman of the Board of Directors of MacDowell; Eula Biss, author of four books, most recently “To have and to be had“; essayist Aaron John Curtis, whose work has been published in The Selkie and by Lominy Books; Kate Tuttle, Boston Editor-in-Chief World book section; and Jerald Walker, professor at Emerson College and author of “How to make a slave and other trials. “
