What inspired this new award, and how will it work?
The Award is modeled somewhat after the Booker of Bookers in the British Commonwealth. There are 77 Winners. During the summer we will poll the writers on our list—former National Book Awards Judges, Winners, and Finalists—which will pare the list down to six, representing the number of decades the National Book Awards has existed. Beginning on September 21st, we will conduct an online, public vote among these six. It’s the first time in its history that the National Book Awards has asked the public to make a choice.
Why fiction—and how have there been 77 winners in 60 years?
Fiction is the only category we have had in the Awards every year, most of the books are still in print, and the authors are the most well known. We have 77 Winners for two reasons. In 1975 the Award was split, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s we had several other categories including Best Science Fiction, Best Western, and Best Fiction Paperback. We decided to be inclusive, which has also added to the fun.
How can bookstores and libraries partner with the NBF to get the word out about this award?
On July 7th we will begin a one-a-day Web page for each book, starting with 1950 and running to 2008. Bookstores and libraries can link to our site by “grabbing a widget” from our Web site and placing it on their pages so their patrons can click-through. Each page will include a digital image of the original book cover, photographs, a list of the other National Book Award Finalists that year, the Pulitzer Winner in Fiction that year, the Nobel Prize Winner in Literature that year, and, best of all, an original appraisal by a contemporary writer. People will also be able to leave comments. Then when we begin the public vote on September 21st, bookstores and libraries can grab electioneering banners and widgets, a sort of “Vote for Faulkner!” type of approach (if he makes the final list of six).
When the Man Booker prize held a Best of the Booker campaign for its 25th and 40th anniversaries, much heated discussion was generated in the media and the public sphere. Do you expect the same to happen here in the U.S.?
We expect some controversy over the selection of the six Finalists, simply because of the 77 Winners from the past 59 years, I would estimate that three-quarters of them are worthy of making the final list of six. It’s hard to believe how many great books have been National Book Award Winners. But how much public discussion will take place depends on getting the word out. It could be fun to have local booksellers and libraries have their own comments page, for example. I believe there are more serious readers across America than we have been led to believe. There are tens of thousands of book clubs, for example. Wouldn’t it be great to have the book clubs read all six and then vote?
The list of 77 contains many literary lions from the last half-century, but there are few lesser-known names in the group. Is there one book you consider a long shot for the award but that you really loved?
Since there’s no way he’ll even get consideration, I have to confess a love for Louis L’Amour. He’s not literary at all, and even hokey at times, but what a storyteller!
Are you ready to place bets on a Best of the National Book Awards Fiction winner?
Only with my bookie, and she and I are not talking.