October 15th 2023.
The Kirkus Reviews has recently awarded its top prize, the Kirkus Prize, to three incredible literary works that examine history and community. One of the award recipients is African-American author, musician, and screenwriter James McBride.
The Kirkus Prize is considered one of the most valuable literary awards in the world, with a colossal prize of $50,000 given annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature. Meg Kuehn, the publisher of Kirkus Reviews, made a statement regarding the three winning works on NPR, saying: “History and community emerged as central themes in the most outstanding works of literature published this year.” Kuehn added, “We see these ideas come to life in wildly different ways in all three of this year’s winners, each one compelling from beginning to end, begging to be celebrated, discussed, and shared.”
McBride won the fiction category for his novel “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” which is set in the fictional town of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in a racially mixed neighborhood called Chicken Hill. McBride won a National Book Award in 2013 for “The Good Lord Bird.” The Kirkus Prize judges said in a citation, “James McBride has created a vibrant fictional world as only this master storyteller can. The characters’ interlocking lives make for tense, absorbing drama as well as warm, humane comedy. This is a novel about small-town American life that is clear-eyed about prejudice yet full of hope for the power of community.”
In addition, Héctor Tobar won for his nonfiction book “Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of Latino” and Ariel Aberg-Riger won the prize for young readers literature for her debut, “America Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History.”
McBride’s landmark memoir, “The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother” was published in 1996 and has sold millions of copies. It spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list. His debut novel, “Miracle at St. Anna,” was turned into a 2008 film by Oscar-winning writer and director Spike, with a script written by McBride. His 2013 novel, “The Good Lord Bird,” about abolitionist John Brown, was a Showtime limited series in fall 2020 starring Ethan Hawke.
The Kirkus Prize is a relatively new addition to the literary awards scene, as it has only been around for 10 years. Nevertheless, its award winners and finalists have made invaluable contributions to the American literary landscape.
LeVar Burton was recently announced as the 2023 National Book Awards Host, adding to the excitement of the upcoming award season.
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