The 2022 National Book Awards were presented last night at a black-tie dinner in downtown Manhattan, marking the first in-person iteration of the event since 2019. Hosted by author and culinary icon Padma Lakshmi, the evening was a glamorous and meaningful celebration of the 2022 honorees, while also sparking a passionate discussion about the distressing wave of book bans sweeping the country. Among the presenters were bestselling authors Ibram X. Kendi and Neil Gaiman; Maus creator Art Spiegelman was honored for Distinguished Contributions to American Letters.
There was thunderous applause for Imani Perry, whose groundbreaking South to America won the nonfiction prize, as well as Audible's Best of the Year in History. (Perry also has an Audible Original releasing in March 2023, which we can't wait to tell you all about!) Our own pick for listen of the year, All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir, received the National Book Award for young people’s literature. In her moving acceptance speech, Tahir noted she was the first Muslim and Pakistani American woman to win the award.
Check out some of the night's major awards below, or view the full list of winners and nominees here. Congratulations to all of the honorees!
Winner, Nonfiction
"When I asked Imani Perry about the title of this listen, she said: 'It's about the South as a region that is produced by the intersection between the transatlantic slave trade, Indigenous communities and their dispossession, and European powers, global powers; the sort of effort to harness the land that is often so cruel, but also becomes the space where cultures and innovations are born, and so America is this sort of vast term.' Her narration brings to life both the intimate spaces of her (physical) journey south, as well as the sweeping history that created the Global South." —Christina H.
Winner, Fiction
The Rabbit Hutch follows four teenagers—recently aged out of the state foster-care system—living together in an apartment building in the post-industrial Midwest, exploring the quest for transcendence and the desire for love. Set across one week and culminating in a shocking act of violence, the novel chronicles a town on the brink, desperate for rebirth. How far will its residents go to achieve it? Does one person’s gain always come at another’s expense? Tess Gunty’s stunning debut novel is a gorgeous and provocative tale of loneliness and community, entrapment and freedom. It announces a major new voice in American fiction, one bristling with intelligence and vulnerability.
Winner, Young People's Literature
"We were swept away by Sabaa Tahir’s All My Rage, a contemporary YA novel that spans generations and continents as it explores the intertwining nature of pain and love in relationships. No three voices have ever won our hearts quite like Misbah, Noor, and Sal—first as they broke them, and then (mercifully) put them back together. Beautifully performed by Deepti Gupta, Kamran R. Khan, and Kausar Mohammed, All My Rage is our favorite listen of 2022." —Katie O.
Winner, Translated Literature
The seven houses in these seven stories are empty. Some are devoid of love or life or furniture, of people or the truth or of memories. But in Samanta Schweblin’s tense, visionary tales, something always creeps back in: a ghost, a fight, trespassers, a list of things to do before you die, a child’s first encounter with a dark choice or the fallibility of parents. This was the collection that established Booker Prize finalist Samanta Schweblin to the forefront of a new generation of Latin American writers. And now in English it will push her cult status to new heights.
