Special Topics Paper Summary

            The overall topic of my paper was the National Book Awards. One topic covered in my paper was controversies and criticisms regarding the National Book Awards. The only specific controversy regarding a winner that I found much information about was the 1962 winner in the fiction category: The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (Hedin, 2012). Catch-22 by Joseph Heller was thought likely to win the prize that year, and Percy’s win was met with controversy regarding whether there had been some unethical behavior in the judging process (which the judge in question denied and her story was corroborated by a fellow judge) (Hedin, 2012). I also discussed that the National Book Awards have been criticized for choosing “little-known or obscure books” (Bosman, 2013, p. A23), which is something that readers’ advisory librarians could be aware of in regard to these awards that patrons may see as either a negative or positive thing depending on their preferences.

            Additionally, in my paper I discussed one former judge’s suggestion that the judging process would be fairer if judges did not know the identities of the authors or publishers of the works they were reading during the selection process (Lipman, 2009, p. 52). Another criticism of the awards I discussed in my paper (from a 2002 article) is the money that publishers had to pay to the National Book Foundation for marketing books of theirs that got shortlisted, due to the burden it placed on small publishers who may have a hard time affording it; however, it appears that some changes made by the National Book Foundation since the publishing of the article I had found criticizing that issue in 2002 should have helped to alleviate it (Zeitchik, 2002, p. 16) (Deadlines & Guidelines, n.d.).

            Another topic covered in my paper was positive assessments of the National Book Awards. The National Book Awards have received some positive assessments in the past few years in regard to diversity and inclusion (Hoffert, 2018) (Grady, 2019). For example, Constance Grady noted that in 2019 a large portion of finalists were “women, people of color, and disabled people” (Grady, 2019).

            I also discussed in my paper that a new award category, Translated Literature, was just added in 2018 and that that award recognizes both the author and the translator(s) of the book (Maher, 2018, p. 15).

Works Cited

Bosman, J. (2013, November 21). 'Good Lord Bird' Is Surprise Winner For National Book Award in Fiction. New York Times, 163(56327), A23. Retrieved from https://go-gale-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=News&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CA349816188&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAM-MOD1&prod

Deadlines & Guidelines. (n.d.). Retrieved from National Book Foundation: https://www.nationalbook.org/national-book-awards/submissions/

Grady, C. (2019, October 8). The 2019 National Book Award finalists spotlight authors from marginalized groups. Retrieved from Vox: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/10/8/20904605/2019-national-book-award-finalists-shortlist-nominations

Hedin, B. (2012, November 2). Scandal at the National Book Awards: Was The Moviegoer’s victory in 1962 a fix? Retrieved from Slate: https://slate.com/culture/2012/11/1962-national-book-awards-scandal-the-story-behind-the-moviegoer.html

Hoffert, B. (2018, October 15). National Book Awards Lists: Diverse Voices. Library Journal. Vol. 143 Issue 17, p14-15. 2p., 143(17), 14-15. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=132303182&site=ehost-live

Lipman, E. (2009, April 13). And the Winner Is…Anonymous. Publishers Weekly, 256(15), 52. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=39662995&site=ehost-live

Maher, J. (2018, February 5). National Book Award for Translation Added. Publishers Weekly (Online), 15. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=127730504&site=ehost-live

Zeitchik, S. (2002, October 28). NBA Costs Pose Hurdles For Smaller Presses. Publishers Weekly, 249(43), 16. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=7686303&site=ehost-live