"On Saturday, Jan. 4, Library of Congress James Madison Council chair David M. Rubenstein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House. This is a crowning achievement for his passionate support of our nation’s history and culture and the arts." -- A special blog from Librarian Carla D. Hayden
Author and academic Ned Blackhawk has been studying Native American history for a long time, and he thinks there are reasons to be optimistic about the future. He says that groundwork laid over the past several decades, particularly in the 1970s protest movements, has established a growing recognition of Native American influence on the foundations of U.S. culture and society, resulting in a cultural renaissance. His latest book, “The Rediscovery of America,” won the National Book Award for nonfiction this year, and his panel discussion at the National Book Festival was packed.
Peruvian American author Marie Arana's new book "LatinoLand: A Portrait of America’s Largest and Least Understood Minority," offers a timely exploration of Latino culture during Hispanic Heritage Month. She, and her book, were featured during the 2024 National Book Festival.
Viet Thanh Nguyen fled Vietnam as a child, escaping Saigon with his family the day before the capital city fell. They went to military bases in the Philippines and Guam, then lived in Pennsylvania for a few years before finally settling in San Jose, California, where he discovered the American dream was complicated. His literary work, most notably his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Sympathizer," (now an HBO series) explores the duality that he feels as a refugee and as an American writer. He spoke about his work at the National Book Festival, sharing stories of how his local library was his "salvation" as a child.
James McBride, winner of the Library's 2024 Prize for American Fiction, took the main stage at the National Book Festival last weekend, delighting a rapturous crowd with anecdotes and observations about his best-selling books and his remarkable writing career. "Love is the greatest novel ever written," he said. "That's it."
This weekend at the Library’s National Book Festival, fans of Kazu Kibuishi’s epic Amulet series will have a chance to hear him read from his ninth and final book in the series, “Waverider” and talk about how he created the immersive world where his graphic novels are set. Here, he answers a few questions about his creative process.
Pablo Cartaya’s novels touch on themes of family, culture and community, so it was no surprise when my 11-year-old daughter connected with the young characters of his latest book, “Curveball.” This weekend at the National Book Festival, Cartaya will be talking about "Curveball" and reading from an earlier book, "Tina Cocolina: Queen of the Cupcakes." In this piece, he answered a few of our most pressing questions.
Stories can be a lot of things, as journalist and novelist Annalee Newitz writes in “Stories Are Weapons,” but in the end they are powerful instruments that can be used for good or evil, to comfort the afflicted or afflict the comfortable. “The thing about stories is that they are emotional and oftentimes appeal to …
The Library will award the 2024 Prize for American Fiction to novelist and author James McBride, Librarian Carla Hayden announced today. McBride, 66, is the author of the hugely popular memoir "The Color of Water," novels such as “The Good Lord Bird” (winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction) and, most recently "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store," which received the 2023 Kirkus Prize for Fiction and was named Barnes and Noble’s 2023 Book of the Year. In 2016, he was awarded the the National Humanities Medal. He will be awarded the Prize for Fiction at the 2024 National Book Festival.
