Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Chapel Hill isn't rolling right along
New eateries expand menu of options
Akron City Council OKs higher speed on I-77
Coventry woman abducted at gunpoint; ex-boyfriend arrested after 100-mph chase
Patrick McManamon: Here's what the Browns should try the rest of the season
Suitcase causes bomb scare at Akron bus terminal
Stark County engineer dies at 49
Man says he was punched, robbed by 3 people in parking lot
Blogs:
Pets:
First Person: Inside St. Louis Pit Bull Shelter
The Heldenfiles:
Tuesday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Allen Iverson to the Cavs? Stop the madness!
Akron Zips:
Interview with a Temple blogger
Tribe Matters:
Indians announce spring dates
Cleveland Browns:
Quinn tabbed to start against Ravens Monday night
Kent State Sports:
KSU Notes – November 11
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Cavs: Yeah, on That Issue of Privacy
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes Roll 100-60 / Season Outlook
Varsity Letters:
Twinsburg likes chances, but warns offense needs to deliver
All Da King's Men:
More On The Fort Hood Jihadist
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Simply Incapable of Telling The Truth
Akron Law Café:
Study says 2,200 uninsured veterans died in 2008 due to lack of health insurance.
See Jane Style:
Muffle Your Muffler
Car Chase:
Clock Tender- Extending the Life of Collector Car Clocks
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Rumors: Akron Starbucks Closing
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Kimberly requests information on living in Columbus, Ohio.
Sound Check:
Aeromsith looking for new singer as Steven Tyler contemplates solo career
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – Why People Do Not Live in Northeast Ohio
Akron Gamer:
Video: 'Modern Warfare 2' hits the streets
National book critics tap 'Brother, I'm Dying' as best autobiography
By Hillel Italie
Associated Press
Published on Saturday, Mar 08, 2008
NEW YORK: Stories from the island of Hispaniola were winners Thursday night at the National Book Critics Circle awards: Dominican-American Junot Diaz took the fiction prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Edwidge Danticat of Haiti was cited in autobiography for Brother, I'm Dying.
The general nonfiction prize went to Harriet A. Washington's Medical Apartheid, while the winner in biography was Tim Jeal's Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer. The poetry award went to Mary Jo Bang for Elegy, and the criticism winner was Alex Ross' The Rest Is Noise.
Diaz, whose novel tells of a young, obese Dominican immigrant and his tragicomic quest for love, was on his way to Venezuela on Thursday night for personal reasons and his award was accepted by Sean McDonald of Riverhead Books. He joked that ''some distinct shouting'' could probably be heard all the way from Caracas, or at least the muffled sounds of ''the vestigial part of his brain being blown.''
Danticat — known for such fiction as The Dew Breaker and Krik? Krak! — said she was a bit out of place in nonfiction, telling her fellow finalists that ''I feel like I'm visiting your category'' and promising ''to speak well of this world'' when she got back to writing fiction.
Jeal spoke of the many years working on his book about the famed explorer Henry Stanley, a process he described as ''mammoth'' and ''irksome.''
Bang offered a more personal memory. She recalled a sixth-grade play in which she was to portray the season of spring and ''slink across the stage in diaphanous scarves.'' The play was canceled after a parent protested, thinking Bang would only be wearing scarves.
So, on Thursday, she thanked the critics for ''restoring my moment on stage.''
Two honorary awards also were presented. Literary critic Sam Anderson of New York magazine received the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, and Emilie Buchwald, co-founder of the Milkweed Editions publishing house, won the Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award.
NEW YORK: Stories from the island of Hispaniola were winners Thursday night at the National Book Critics Circle awards: Dominican-American Junot Diaz took the fiction prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Edwidge Danticat of Haiti was cited in autobiography for Brother, I'm Dying.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
