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2007

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THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS: A TRADITION SINCE 1950

On March 15, 1950, a consortium of book publishing groups sponsored the first annual National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Their goal was to enhance the public's awareness of exceptional books written by fellow Americans, and to increase the popularity of reading in general.

Since then, The National Book Awards have become the nation's preeminent literary prizes, and The National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner an important event on the literary calendar. Today, the Awards are given to recognize achievements in four genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. The Winners, selected by five-member, independent judging panels for each genre, receive a $10,000 cash award and a crystal sculpture.

2007 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Fiction Winner
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

Finalists
Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski
Varieties of Disturbance by Lydia Davis
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
Like You’d Understand, Anyway by Jim Shepard

Nonfiction Winner
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner

Finalists
Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat
God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens
Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by Woody Holton
Ralph Ellison: A Biography by Arnold Rampersad

Young People’s Literature Winner
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Finalists
Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic by Kathleen Duey
Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brain Selznick
Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr

Poetry Winner
Time and Materials by Robert Hass

Finalist
Messenger: New and Selected Poem, 1976-2006 by Ellen Bryant Voigt