“Let’s find a way to make sure that there is another generation of readers out there,” he said. He added that he was concerned that American publishing and literature was “in trouble”. The author has also donated more than 250,000 books to children and more than 650,000 books to US soldiers.įariña said Patterson was a “hero” and asked that more people in the room emulate his contributions to the literary world. The New York City schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, presented the award to Patterson, who donated more than $1m in grants to independent bookstores last year. Honors were also presented to Don DeLillo, recognised for his distinguished contribution to American letters, and James Patterson, who was awarded for his outstanding service to the American literary community.

The work is inspired by Shusterman’s son, Brendan, who was diagnosed with the illness at 16. Robin Coste Lewis won in the poetry category for her debut, Voyage of the Sable Venus, a meditation on being a black woman in America, while the young people’s literature prize went to Neal Shusterman for Challenger Deep,about a teenager with schizophrenia. Each finalist receives $1,000 and the winner takes home $10,000. Publishers submitted 1,428 books for review: 419 fiction, 494 nonfiction, 221 poetry and 294 in young people’s literature. Only American citizens are eligible for the awards, now in their 66th year. you won’t make me a part of it.”Īdam Johnson’s Fortune Smiles took home the 2015 National Book Award for fiction at the ceremony, held at Cipriani in Manhattan on Wednesday night.ĭespite winning the Pulitzer prize for his novel The Orphan Master’s Son in 2012, Johnson was a surprise winner here, beating out the favorites: Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life and Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies.

“What I do have power to do is to say you won’t enroll me in this life. Coates said Jones’s death was at the core of his book, which also delves into later incidents of police violence against people of color.Īs a black man he cannot punish the officer who killed his friend, he added. He dedicated his award to his friend Prince Jones, who was killed by a police officer in 2000. “At the heart of our country is the notion that we are OK with the presumption that black people somehow have an angle, somehow have a predisposition to criminality,” said Coates, accepting his award.Ĭoates’ prize is the latest in a string of accolades awarded to the Atlantic journalist, who was awarded a MacArthur “genius grant” in September.

Coates received the prestigious award at a time when America’s systemic racism faces renewed scrutiny and the Black Lives Matter movement pressures the US government and its citizens to examine – and act against – widespread inequality.

Prince jones between the world and me