Organizers for the National Book Awards on Wednesday announced the 20 finalists for 2011's honors, which are among the most prestigious in U.S. publishing.
Winners in four categories -- fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature -- will be announced at a gala event held in New York on November 16 and hosted by actor John Lithgow. Finalists in their respective categories follow:
FICTION
Andrew Krivak, "The Sojourn"
Tea Obreht, "The Tiger's Wife"
Julie Otsuka, "The Buddha in the Attic"
Edith Pearlman, "Binocular Vision"
Jesmyn Ward, "Salvage the Bones"
NONFICTION:
Deborah Baker, "The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism"
Mary Gabriel, "Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution"
Stephen Greenblatt, "Swerve: How the World Became Modern"
Manning Marable, "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention"
Lauren Redniss, "Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout"
POETRY:
Nikky Finney, "Head Off & Split"
Yusef Komunyakaa, "The Chameleon Couch"
Carl Phillips, "Double Shadow"
Adrienne Rich, "Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems 2007-2010"
Bruce Smith, "Devotions"
YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE:
Franny Billingsley, "Chime"
Debbie Dahl Edwardson, "My Name Is Not Easy"
Thanhha Lai, "Inside Out and Back Again"
Albert Marrin, "Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy"
Lauren Myracle, "Shine"
Gary D. Schmidt, "Okay for Now"