On November 20, 2024, Percival Everett and Jason De León were honored for their significant contributions to literature with one of the most prestigious prizes in the United States, the National Book Award.

Percival Everett won in the Fiction category for his novel James, a reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. The novel has been lauded for its powerful narrative and deep exploration of racial themes, cementing Everett’s reputation as one of contemporary literature’s most innovative voices. Selected by Barnes & Noble as their 2024 Book of the Year and winner of the Kirkus Prize for fiction, James is called “genius” by The Atlantic and “Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful” by The New York Times.

In the Nonfiction category, anthropologist and MacArthur Foundation Fellow Jason De León was recognized for Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling. This groundbreaking work investigates the human stories behind global smuggling networks, blending anthropology and storytelling to shed light on a pressing issue. De León’s empathetic approach offers a compelling look at the resilience and hardships of those who navigate these perilous pathways. It is an “ambitious” (The New Republic) and “strikingly candid” (The New York Times) work of narrative nonfiction, offering a groundbreaking and up-close glimpse at a global, billion-dollar, extralegal industry.

A heartfelt congratulations to all 2024 National Book Award winners, including other winners in the poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature categories. Established in 1950, the National Book Award continues to celebrate a diverse array of literary excellence, reaffirming the vitality of contemporary writing.

Past PRHSB-speakers who have won a National Book Award include:

Fiction

2014: Redeployment by Phil Klay

2016: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

2018: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

2020: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

2022: The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

Non-Fiction

1997: American Sphinx by Joseph J. Ellis

2009: The First Tycoon by T.J. Stiles

2015: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

2016: Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

Poetry

2015: Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis

Young People’s Literature

2022: All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir