CNN
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As the National Book Awards came to a close on Wednesday, finalists for the prestigious literary awards took the stage in New York to talk about the war between Israel and Hamas, while others at the ceremony also chose to tackle banned books.
Aaliyah Bilal, who was nominated for the Fiction Prize for her short story collection “The Temple People,” read from a prepared statement as a group of her fellow finalists stood around her.
“On behalf of the finalists, we oppose the ongoing bombing of Gaza and call for a humanitarian ceasefire to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, especially children,” Bilal said at the ceremony.
He added: “We oppose anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian sentiment, and Islamophobia alike, accept the human dignity of all parties, and know that further bloodshed will do nothing to secure lasting peace in the region.”
Some of the audience in the room responded with a standing ovation. But the authors’ coordinated statement also highlighted tensions within the literary community — when they learned that a group of award finalists planned to make a statement about the war, two sponsors decided not to attend the ceremony. New York times mentioned.
Zibby Owens, owner of Zibby Media, wrote in A Substack Prior to the ceremony, her company decided to withdraw its support and attendance after learning that the authors intended to “gather together to use their speeches to promote a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel agenda.” She added that she felt the event would reinforce discrimination against Israel and the Jewish people.
The Book of the Month subscription service, which remains a sponsor, told CNN in a statement that it did not attend the gala, but continued to support the event.
Oprah and Levar Burton have spoken out about banning books
It is not unusual for political statements to appear at National Book Awards, such as the National Book Foundation male In her own statement before the event.
Aside from the finalists’ comments about the war between Israel and Hamas, several speakers and authors used their platforms at the awards ceremony to talk about efforts to ban books in American schools and libraries.
LeVar Burton, children’s book author and former host of the popular TV show “Reading Rainbow,” exits the awards ceremony and opens it with a joke.
“Before we get started, are there any Freedom Moms in the house?” he asked, referring to a conservative group behind recent attempts to remove certain books from school shelves. “No? Fine. Then there won’t be any need to throw hands tonight.”
In his opening remarks, Burton alluded to the climate in which attempts to ban books are taking place.
“My mother taught me at a very young age that if you can read in at least one language, then you are, by definition, free. This idea of freedom seems particularly risky in this global political moment,” he said. “There are wars and rumors of wars and the mechanisms of war are at work. “On the home front, we are fighting to control the truth and how the truth is interpreted in this country. Books are being banned, words are being silenced, and writers and others who defend books are under attack.”
Oprah Winfrey, who was celebrated as a special guest at the event, drew attention to people who have been targeted for their opposition to attempts to ban books. It quotes Barbara Kingsolver and Tess Junty, and names Abraham Verghese and Amanda Gorman, among other authors.
She also spoke about the importance of reading books by diverse authors, sharing how Maya Angelou’s book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings had a profound impact on her when she was 15 years old.
“This book gave voice to my silence and my secrets. It gave words to my pain and confusion over being raped when I was nine,” she said. “Until Caged Bird I didn’t know there was a language, there were words, for what happened to me or that No other human being on earth has experienced it. That’s the power of books.”
At the end of her speech, Oprah said that she hopes that children can see themselves in the pages of books, and therefore, that they can see others more clearly as well.
“Make no mistake: Banning books is extinguishing the flame of truth, what it means to be alive, what it means to be aware, what it means to engage in the world,” she said. “Banning books means isolating us from each other, hiding us in a lonely darkness, a dark room.” A soulless echo.” “Banning books means stifling what sustains us and makes us better people.”
Wednesday’s National Book Award winners reflected a variety of themes.
Justin Torres won the Fiction Prize for Blackouts, an experimental novel that blends queer history and fantasy to depict a deathbed conversation between two gay men.
Ned Blackhawk received the Nonfiction Honorable Mention for his book Rediscovering America: Indigenous Peoples and the Dismantling of U.S. History, a retelling of America’s story that puts Indigenous people at its center.
Craig Santos Perez won the Poetry Prize for his poetry collection From an Unincorporated Area [åmot]”, about his native Guam and the culture of the Chamorro people.
Dan Santat won the Young People’s Literature Award for his middle grade graphic memoir, “The First Time for Everything,” and Steño Jardel won the Translated Literature Award for “Remaining Words,” translated from Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato.
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