In the midst of a time when books are banned due to the ultra-conservative offensive, the celebration of letters that the National Book Awards represents each year in the United States has suffered additional censorship in its 2023 call: the withdrawal of two sponsors due to the foreseeable politicization of the gala. Warned that some finalists in the different categories of the award, the most prestigious in the United States, would take advantage of the stage to condemn the Israeli offensive against Gaza and call for a ceasefire, two editorials announced on the eve of the ceremony, held on the night of this Wednesday in New York, who were withdrawing their sponsorship. Three finalists in this year’s contest were Muslim Americans.
One of the sponsors is the Jewish publishing house Zibby Books, which announced its decision on Tuesday. The person responsible for him explained on a social network that a “source” had warned her that “the nominees for the awards have decided en bloc to use the moment of the speeches to promote a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli agenda.” Indeed, some nominees confirmed their intention to talk about politics at the party. “In the future, I don’t want to look back and say that I was silent while people [en Gaza] I was suffering,” explained the writer Aaliyah Bilal, finalist in the fiction category, the day before. With her first book, Temple Folk, Bilal delves into the history of African-American Muslims as a result of his family’s experience in the Nation of Islam, a group that many consider an exponent of African-American supremacism. his book, edited by Simon & Schusterhas the Islamic crescent and star on the cover.
A day later, at the award ceremony, Bilal collected the microphone from Justin Torres, winner in the fiction category for his second novel, Blackouts, to read a carefully worded statement as more than a dozen finalists flanked her. More than precise, the content of the statement was homeopathic: “We oppose the current bombing of Gaza and call for a humanitarian ceasefire to address the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, especially children,” the writer said. “We equally oppose anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian sentiment and Islamophobia, accepting the human dignity of all parties. Knowing that more bloodshed does nothing to ensure lasting peace in the region.”
The National Book Foundation, organizer of the award, had sent a message on Tuesday to all sponsors and those who had purchased tickets for the gala, alerting them to the likelihood that the winners would make political statements from the podium. “This is by no means unprecedented in the history of the National Book Awards, or any awards ceremony, but given the extraordinarily painful time we find ourselves in, we thought it best to contact you in case have any questions or concerns,” Ruth Dickey, executive director of the foundation, wrote to sponsors and attendees. Dickey was referring to precedents such as 2016, when Donald Trump had just been elected president of the United States and the winner in the fiction category Colson Whitehead criticized the “damned infernal wasteland of Trumplandia.” In recent years, criticism of the treatment of migrants or the lack of diversity in the publishing industry has marked the galas.
In a gala that included stellar participations such as the popular communicator Oprah Winfrey, the singer Dua Lipa and the versatile Trevor Noah to present two awards, the celebration of literature was thus overshadowed by the ghost of Gaza, or, rather, , for the possibility of any anti-Semitic comments. The event, which is the industry’s annual showcase, was held almost in abeyance, with fears that freedom of expression would boomerang into censorship. The publishers presented a total of 1,931 books, almost half a thousand (496) in the fiction category, 638 in non-fiction, 295 poetry collections, 154 titles contending for the best translation and 348 in the youth literature section. Five titles for each category.
Among the non-fiction finalists was Mexican Cristina Rivera Garza’s book about her sister’s feminicide (Liliana’s invincible summerpublished in Spanish by Random House) and a high-voltage family memoir in the middle of the war between Israel and Hamas, those of the Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist Raja Shehadeh, subtitled in English A Palestinian memory. Finally, in this category the American historian Ned Blackhawk won for his book The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Destruction of American History. In the poetry section, fellow American Craig Santos Pérez won for his work of unincorporated territory [åmot]. In translated literature, the winner was the Brazilian Stênio Gardel for The words that remain. And in youth literature, the American Dan Santat for A first time for everything.
One of the finalist books in children’s literature was a story of Muslim women and girls by the illustrator, also Muslim, Huda Fahmy. On the cover a mother and her daughters appear, portrayed with the mandatory veil. Too many coincidences at a time when the clamor that shakes university campuses, the streets and, increasingly, American public opinion – 66% of the population believes that Washington should pressure Israel to achieve a truce – goes in crescendo.
The noise therefore crept in through the front door of the awards, without the organization being able to do anything other than warn that “the decisions of the judges are made independently of the staff and the Board of Directors of the National Book Foundation, and the deliberations are strictly confidential.” An obvious way to improve your health given the presence among the nominees of the books by Bilal, Shehadeh and Fahmy. In the end, none of them won the award, but their presence on the list was experienced in an almost threatening way, although the final statement was not as threatening as expected.
The controversy of the 2023 National Book Awards joins other similar ones carried out by 92NY, an important cultural institution in the city; Artforum and various film and book festivals, in which statements and criticism of Israel have provoked institutional reactions and, sometimes, dismissals and resignations. The Jewish-oriented 92NY center canceled at the end of October a dialogue with the writer of Vietnamese origin Viet Thanh Nguyen, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the good novel The sympathizer (Seix Barral), after he signed an open letter that criticized Israel.
All the culture that goes with you awaits you here.
Subscribe
Babelia
The literary news analyzed by the best critics in our weekly newsletter
RECEIVE IT
#Gaza #war #sneaks #National #Book #Awards #York