NEW YORK: Marlon James' “The Disappearers,” his deeply personal novel about the persecution and perseverance of gay men in Jamaica in the 1980s, is among the nominees on the long lists for the National Book Awards.
Other works cited this week by National Book Foundation judges include a story collection by Louise Erdrich, the latest novel from Norway's Karl Ove Knausgaard and a middle grade novel by Chanel Miller.
The foundation released lists of 10 nominees in five competitive categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, books in translation and young people's literature. Judges will pare the finalists to five in each category, to be announced Oct. 6. Winners will be revealed during a Nov. 18 ceremony in Manhattan, when honorary medals will be presented to Salman Rushdie for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and Perri Klass for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.
James' novel, which also was on the long list for the Booker Prize, is a fiction nominee for the National Book Award, with others including Erdrich's “Python's Kiss,” Edwidge Danticat's “Dèy,” Valeria Luiselli's “Beginning Middle End” and Alexander Maksik's “Passengers.”
Miller, whose other books include her acclaimed memoir about being a victim of sexual assault, “Know My Name," is a young adult nominee for “The Moon Without Stars.”
Knausgaard's “The School of Night,” translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken, is on the translation long list, along with Taiwanese author Ping Lu's “To the East of the East” and Indonesian Intan Paramaditha's “Night of a Thousand Hells,” among others.
Nonfiction nominees include Colin Asher's “The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music” and Camonghne Felix's “Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom.” Layli Long Soldier's “We,” Victoria Chang's “Tree of Knowledge” and Richie Hofmann's “The Bronze Arms” were among the poetry nominees.