Dominican-American author Junot Diaz has been shortlisted as one of five finalists in the fiction category for the National Book Award 2012, the premier literature award in the United States, for his latest book, “This Is How You Lose Her,” a short story collection.
The other 20 finalists for the National Book Awards in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people’s literature include Dave Eggers (“A Hologram for the King”), Louise Erdrich (“The Round House”), Ben Fountain (“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”) and Kevin Powers (“The Yellow Birds”).
The shortlist was announced Wednesday, 10 October morning by NBA Chairman David Steinberger on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” The finalists receive US$1,000 and the winners in each category will get US$10,000. The award will be announced in New York on 14 November.
Junot Diaz is a recent MacArthur “genius grant” winner whose first novel, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. Diaz debuted with “Drown”, also a collection of short stories, in 1996.
www.nationalbook.org