At a ceremony in New York on Thursday, one of America's most celebrated writers had a new reason to celebrate. Louise Erdrich won the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction for her novel LaRose, the story of an accidental shooting — and the fraught tale of family and reparation that follows.
Erdrich, who already has an NBCC Award to her name for her debut novel, Love Medicine, wasn't the only author to be feted on Thursday. In fact, a number of writers from across six categories took home prizes. Not to mention a few more winners for good measure — including Margaret Atwood, who earned a lifetime achievement award.
As The New York Times reports, the NBCC Awards, which are open to any book published in English in the U.S., "stand out from other major awards because book critics deliver the verdicts."
Here's a glimpse of the winners, as well as NPR's previous coverage.
Fiction: LaRose, by Louise Erdrich.
Nonfiction: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond.
Poetry: House of Lords and Commons, by Ishion Hutchinson.
Criticism: White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson.
Autobiography: Lab Girl, Hope Jahren.
Biography: Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin.
John Leonard Prize for first book: Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi.
Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing: Michelle Dean.
Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award: Margaret Atwood.
Emerging Critics Fellows:
Taylor Brorby
Paul W. Gleason
Zachary Graham
Yalie Saweed Kamara
Summer McDonald
Ismail Muhamad
Heather Scott Partington
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