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National Book Foundation visits SKC

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PABLO — The National Book Foundation visited the Salish Kootenai College last week, connecting authors with audiences and educating attendees on how to map a novel. 

Best known as the presenter of the National Book Awards for nearly 75 years, Director of Programs Natalie Green explained that in the last few years in particular the National Book Foundation has been trying to better live up to their name as a national organization and work with all different partner types, from colleges to cultural community centers and nonprofits. 

“We try to get all around the country to different cities, both rural, suburban, and urban – all different types – to put on 99.9% free public events with our authors that’ve been honored by the awards and some of our other prize programs,” Green said. “We knew that making the trip to Montana we really wanted to make the most out of it, and we know that it’s big state, so we were trying to noodle on where to best divide and conquer, and we were thinking deeply about going to potentially pockets of the state that have fewer offers coming through … Through Dr. Shane Doyle, who’s our moderator for our event in Livingston, he helped us connect with some of the faculty at Salish Kootenai College.”

Moderated by Debra Magpie Earling and featuring authors Tess Gunty, National Book Award Winner for “The Rabbit Hutch,” and Tommy Orange, National Book Award “Longlister” for “There There,” the lecture touched on everything from mapping out a novel to the craft of writing fiction, followed by questions from the audience and a book signing. 

“Both of their books are such fascinating character studies, and real studies of place too,” Green commented. “We’re just really excited to be in Montana and meet a lot of readers.”

Being selected as a National Book Award recipient is a process that begins early in the year behind the scenes, Green explained. At the start of each year, a panel of five judges is selected for each award category – fiction, poetry, nonfiction, translated literature, and young people’s literature. “We really try to create judging panels that have as much diversity of thought and background as humanly possible, so we think about age, what the judges themselves are writing and reading, we think about geography deeply … we think about race, we think about gender, we think about folks that identify as LGBTQ, and try to get people who are willing to read hundreds of books,” Green stated. 

Those hundreds of books are submitted directly from publishers, and each September a long list of ten possible winners in each category are announced. From there, in October, five finalists in each category are announced, before the final winners are revealed in the November award ceremony. “It’s totally confidential until the winner comes out of the judge’s mouth at the podium,” Green explained. “It’s very exciting and celebratory.” 

Additional prizes have been established over the last few years as well, including Lifetime Achievement Awards, Five Under 35, and the Science and Literature Prize. To those interested in writing something that may one day receive such an award, Green had simple advice: “I think the best advice is just to write,” she said. “I think so much of it has to do with willing yourself to sit in the chair every day and write and finish it … I feel like a lot of great authors say this all the time, but nobody’s waiting for your book except for you. We’re lucky enough to live in a world where so many great books are published every year, but who’s to say your book wouldn’t be one of them?”

To learn more about the National Book Foundation, visit: nationalbook.org

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