Books Here are your winners for the 2019 National Book Awards EW favorites Susan Choi and Sarah M. Broom are among this year's big winners. By David Canfield David Canfield David Canfield is a Staff Editor. He oversees the magazine's books section, and writes film features and awards analysis. EW's editorial guidelines Published on November 20, 2019 10:30PM EST Photo: Henry Holt and Co.; Grove Press The biggest awards in American books for 2019 have been decided. On Wednesday night in New York City, recipients of this year’s five prestigious National Book Awards were named, in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Young People’s Literature, Translated Literature, and Poetry. In Fiction, Susan Choi was considered the frontrunner for her provocative, risky novel set at a performing arts high school, Trust Exercise, and ultimately prevailed. She wins on her first NBA nomination; she’s a previous finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and generated significant attention and praise for this latest effort. EW called Trust Exercise “a gonzo literary performance one could mistake for a magic trick, duping its readers with glee before leaving them impossibly moved,” in an A- review, back in the spring when it published. “This book is collaboration more so than any other book I’ve written,” Choi said at the National Book Awards upon accepting her award, before thanking her publishing team. “Given what we’re all facing today, I find it an astonishing privilege what I get to do every day. I get to lead a life centered on books and bring other people into that world.” In Nonfiction, Sarah M. Broom triumphed with her debut book, The Yellow House, a richly detailed memoir of her family’s history in New Orleans East, pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina. She beat out such oft-published authors as Carolyn Forché (What You Have Heard Is True) and David Treuer (The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee). Broom appeared on EW’s Hot Summer Debut Authors roundtable for The Yellow House, saying, “The entire act of being the baby child of 12 and telling this story felt like a major transgression. It took me a really long time to give myself permission to write the story.” Other winners Wednesday night included Martin W. Sandler (1919 The Year That Changed America) for Young People’s Literature; Arthur Sze (Sight Lines) for Poetry; and László Krasznahorkai and his book Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming’s translator, Ottilie Mulzet, for Translated Literature. See the full list below. FICTION WINNER: Susan Choi, Trust ExerciseHenry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishers Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Sabrina & Corina: StoriesOne World / Penguin Random House Marlon James, Black Leopard, Red WolfRiverhead Books / Penguin Random House Laila Lalami, The Other AmericansPantheon Books / Penguin Random House Julia Phillips, Disappearing EarthAlfred A. Knopf / Penguin Random House NONFICTION WINNER: Sarah M. Broom, The Yellow House Grove Press / Grove Atlantic Tressie McMillan Cottom, Thick: And Other EssaysThe New Press Carolyn Forché, What You Have Heard is True: A Memoir of Witness and ResistancePenguin Press / Penguin Random House David Treuer, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the PresentRiverhead Books / Penguin Random House Albert Woodfox with Leslie George, SolitaryGrove Press / Grove Atlantic POETRY Jericho Brown, The TraditionCopper Canyon Press Toi Derricotte, “I”: New and Selected PoemsUniversity of Pittsburgh Press Ilya Kaminsky, Deaf RepublicGraywolf Press Carmen Giménez Smith, Be RecorderGraywolf Press WINNER: Arthur Sze, Sight LinesCopper Canyon Press TRANSLATED LITERATURE Khaled Khalifa, Death Is Hard WorkTranslated from the Arabic by Leri PriceFarrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers WINNER: László Krasznahorkai, Baron Wenckheim’s HomecomingTranslated from the Hungarian by Ottilie MulzetNew Directions Scholastique Mukasonga, The Barefoot WomanTranslated from the French by Jordan StumpArchipelago Books Yoko Ogawa, The Memory PoliceTranslated from the Japanese by Stephen SnyderPantheon Books / Penguin Random House Pajtim Statovci, CrossingTranslated from the Finnish by David HackstonPantheon Books / Penguin Random House YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE Akwaeke Emezi, PetMake Me a World / Penguin Random House Jason Reynolds, Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten BlocksAtheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books / Simon & Schuster Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of NothingKokila / Penguin Random House Laura Ruby, Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them AllBalzer + Bray / HarperCollins Publishers WINNER: Martin W. Sandler, 1919 The Year That Changed AmericaBloomsbury Children’s Books / Bloomsbury Publishing Related content: Meet the future of books: The summer’s hottest debut authors discuss all things literary Susan Choi gives a gonzo literary performance with Trust Exercise Here are the finalists for this year’s National Book Awards