Ta-Nehisi Coates wins National Book Award for non-fiction

Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ brief, unflinching meditation on race and police violence, won the National Book Award for nonfiction on Wednesday nightNov 18,2015

Coates’ book has been on bestseller lists for months, and his acceptance speech was a stirring expression of gratitude and frustration. He dedicated his honour to his friend Prince Jones, who was killed by police 15 years ago and whose tragedy is at the core of Between the World and Me.

“Between the World and Me comes out of that place,” said Coates, adding that similar shootings keep happening “over and over and over again.”

The fiction prize was given to Adam Johnson’s Fortune Smiles, an eclectic and edgy story collection set everywhere from the former East Germany to a Louisiana community reeling from Hurricane Katrina.

Adam Johnson’s award follows the Pulitzer Prize he received for his previous work, The Orphan Master’s Son

The young people’s literature prize went to Neal Shusterman’s Challenger Deep, inspired by his then-teenage son’s struggles with mental illness, while Robin Coste Lewis’ debut collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus, was cited for poetry. 

All winners received $10,000

Don DeLillo received a lifetime achievement medal for his contributions to American letters.

James Patterson was honoured for his advocacy of reading and literacy.