Current:Home > MyIt's the 10th year of the Kirkus Prize. Meet the winners of a top literary award-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
It's the 10th year of the Kirkus Prize. Meet the winners of a top literary award
View Date:2024-12-23 23:39:56
The Kirkus Prize, a leading literary award, has been awarded this year to authors Ariel Aberg-Riger, Héctor Tobar and James McBride. The prize selects winners in the categories of fiction, nonfiction and young reader's literature from a pool of nearly 11,000 authors whose books appeared in Kirkus Reviews, the influential journal known for starred prepublication reviews.
Established 10 years ago, the prize includes a cash award of $50,000 per author. "History and community emerged as central themes in the most outstanding works of literature published this year," Kirkus Reviews publisher Meg Kuehn said in a statement. "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."
Fiction winner James McBride has long been well known on the awards circuit; his numerous bestselling books include his 1995 memoir The Color of Water and the novel The Good Lord Bird, which won a National Book Award in 2013. McBride's The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store was described by judges as "a boisterous hymn to community, mercy, and karmic justice."
Their citation noted that the novel is set in the racially mixed Chicken Hill neighborhood of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where Black and Jewish families lived together in the 1930s. "James McBride has created a vibrant fictional world as only this master storyteller can," the judges continued. "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."
Héctor Tobar won for nonfiction. His Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of "Latino," was described by judges as "a pensive examination of the many ways there are to be Latinx in America." Tobar's best known book, Deep Down Dark, from 2014, movingly documented how Chilean miners accidentally trapped underground for months were able to survive. It was made into the Hollywood film The 33, starring Antonio Banderas.
The Kirkus judges called Our Migrant Souls a "vital work of autobiography and cultural commentary — which also serves as a potent manifesto. " It is, they continued, an essential book by a veteran Los Angeles Times journalist. "Tobar goes beyond reductive newspaper headlines and inflammatory political discourse to portray the complexities and contradictions of Latinx experience in the U.S." they wrote. "Featuring eye-opening interviews with people from across the country, this elegantly written, refreshingly forthright book brings into sharp focus a massive yet marginalized community."
The young readers' literature prize went to Ariel Aberg-Riger, whose book, America Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History, was described by the judges as "an illustrated journey through lesser-known and frequently erased parts of United States history."
It is Aberg-Riger's first book. A self-taught artist, she used archival photographs, maps and handwritten text in what the judges called "a rousing work of young adult nonfiction." It demonstrates, they continued, "that history, far from being dusty and irrelevant, is a subject that teens will eagerly engage with — if we give them what they deserve: provocative, courageous, and inclusive books that respect their passion and intellect. Balancing vibrant collage art with captivating text, Aberg-Riger inspires readers to think critically and ask probing questions. At a time when books that challenge whitewashed history are coming under fire from censors, this is a vitally important work that dares to tell the truth."
Edited for the web by Rose Friedman. Produced for the web by Beth Novey.
veryGood! (94)
Related
- Justice Department sues to block UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys
- NFL preseason winners, losers: Questions linger for Bryce Young, other rookie quarterbacks
- Former President Donald Trump’s bond is set at $200,000 in Georgia case
- San Francisco Archdiocese declares bankruptcy amid hundreds of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse
- A wayward sea turtle wound up in the Netherlands. A rescue brought it thousands of miles back home
- Woman gets 15 years to life in deaths of boyfriend, friend after 100 mph car crash into brick wall
- Social Security COLA increase will ‘return to reality’ in 2024 after jump, predictions say
- Polls close in Guatemala’s presidential runoff as voters hope for real change
- Flurry of contract deals come as railroads, unions see Trump’s election looming over talks
- L.A. Mayor Karen Bass says we are ready for rare tropical storm as Hilary nears
Ranking
- Donna Kelce Includes Sweet Nod to Taylor Swift During Today Appearance With Craig Melvin
- Novak Djokovic outlasts Carlos Alcaraz in nearly 4 hours for title in Cincinnati
- Below Deck Down Under's Aesha Gets the Surprise of the Season With Heartwarming Reunion
- Wreckage from WWII Tuskegee airman's plane recovered from Michigan lake
- NATO’s Rutte calls for more Western support for Ukraine, warns of Russian alliances
- After school shooting, Tennessee lawmakers not expected to take up gun control in special session
- Stock market today: Asian stocks mixed as traders await Fed conference for interest rate update
- For one Texas doctor, abortion bans are personal and professional
Recommendation
-
Nicole Kidman Reveals the Surprising Reason for Starring in NSFW Movie Babygirl
-
Free Disney World passes is latest front in war between Disney and DeSantis appointees
-
FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell says emergency funds could be depleted within weeks
-
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow progressing from calf injury
-
Why Josh O'Connor Calls Sex Scenes Least Sexy Thing After Challengers With Zendaya and Mike Faist
-
MLB power rankings: The National League wild-card race is living up to its name
-
Judge blocks Georgia ban on hormone replacement therapy for transgender minors
-
Maui businesses are begging tourists to return after wildfires