Stephen King won't be the only writer receiving an award on November 19 at the 54th National Book Awards ceremony in New York City. Although much has been written recently about his Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, King will be joined on stage by four other writers—the winners of the National Book Awards.
The finalists in four categories (Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Young People's Literature) were recently announced. The winners will each receive $10,000; each finalist will receive $1,000.
The Finalists in Poetry
Carol Muske-Dukes for Sparrow (Random House)
Charles Simic for The Voice at 3:00 A.M.: Selected Late and New Poems (Harcourt)
Louis Simpson for The Owner of the House: New Collected Poems 1940-2001 (BOA Editions, Ltd.)
C.K. Williams for The Singing (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
Kevin Young for Jelly Roll: A Blues (Knopf)
The Finalists in Fiction
T.C. Boyle for Drop City (Viking Penguin)
Shirley Hazzard The Great Fire (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
Edward P. Jones for The Known World (Amistad/HarperCollins)
Scott Spencer for A Ship Made of Paper (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Marianne Wiggins for Evidence of Things Unseen (Simon and Schuster)
