November 20, 2008

National Book Awards happen again

by

Well, was anyone surprised? Not by the fact that no independent publishers were represented among the winners of the National Book Awards announced last night — that, of course, is de rigeur — but by the fact that, despite lots of arched eyebrows and pointed (not to mention cogent) discussion, Peter Matthiessen, who has won the award before, won again for Shadow Country, a novel that was, er, previously published … in the 1980s … as three different books …. In other categories, Annette Gordon-Reed won the non-fiction prize for The Hemingses of Monticello, Mark Doty was the poetry winner for Fire to Fire, and Judith Blundell won the prize for young people’s literature with What I Saw and How I Lied. AP book industry reporter Hillel Italie provides the rest of the gory details in this wire report.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.

  • http://wwnorton.com/trade/ Steve

    Hi Dennis,

    Small correction to your post: W. W. Norton is the publisher of the nonfiction winner, The Hemingses of Monticello. Norton is independent and employee-owned and has proudly been that way since the company was founded in 1923.

  • http://wwnorton.com/trade/ Steve

    Hi Dennis,

    Small correction to your post: W. W. Norton is the publisher of the nonfiction winner, The Hemingses of Monticello. Norton is independent and employee-owned and has proudly been that way since the company was founded in 1923.

  • Dennis Johnson

    Thanks, Steve — That’s not a small correction, though, but an important one. I tend to think of Norton and Grove as so big they’re not really independents, but the fact is if you look close, well, hell, they ARE a little different from the conglomerates. So my sincere apologies to the independent souls of you and your colleagues — and congratulations!

  • Dennis Johnson

    Thanks, Steve — That’s not a small correction, though, but an important one. I tend to think of Norton and Grove as so big they’re not really independents, but the fact is if you look close, well, hell, they ARE a little different from the conglomerates. So my sincere apologies to the independent souls of you and your colleagues — and congratulations!

Stories from related categories