The longlists for the 2024 National Book Awards are out. The fiction longlist features two African authors, Pemi Aguada from Nigeria for her work Ghostroots, Hisham Matar, an American born British-Libyan for his work My Friends. The two authors were selected from a submission pool of 671 books. The Best Translation longlist features Fiston Mwanza Mujila from the Democratic Republic of Congo for The Villain’s Dance, translated from the French by Roland Glasser.
Aguda, Matar, and Mujila are in fine company, as the longlists also features notable authors such as Jessica Anthony, Kaveh Akbar, Percival James, and Sam Sax. The National Book Award long list includes authors at all stages of their careers, from well published authors, to debut pieces. Both Aguada and Matar have previously published works, and have received several literary awards for them.
Pemi Aguda has published several short stories before her debut novel Ghostroots, and both her stories and novel have been met with acclaim. She received two O’Henry prizes for her short stories “Breastmilk” and “The Hollow” in addition to being shortlisted for the Caine Prize. Her next novel The Suicide Mothers will be published sometime in 2025. Ghostroots is a collection of thrilling supernatural stories in Lagos, Nigeria. The stories all weave between the physical and emotional to pick apart ideas of family, myth, and tradition in Nigerian society while being dotted with enough humor to keep you laughing.
Hisham Matar has published 6 novels and received literary recognition such as being shortlisted for the Booker Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award nomination, and his work The Return winning the Pulitzer Prize alongside being a New York time “Top 10 book of 2016”. His longlisted work My Friends follows a boy Khaled as he is inspired by the power of words and travels the world in an attempt to tame them. It is a profound work celebrating the power of friendship, the tough choice of embarking on ones journey or returning home, and how those around us leave permanent marks on our fate.
Fiston Mwanza Mujila, known for his distinct voice in contemporary African literature, has been longlisted for his novel The Villain’s Dance, translated from the French by Roland Glasser. His previous work Tram 83 received wide critical acclaim, and with The Villain’s Dance, Mujila continues to explore the chaotic and vibrant realities of postcolonial African society, blending humor, poetry, and political commentary in his storytelling.
The shortlist will be announced on October 1st, following that a digital ceremony on November 24th will announce the winner of the National Book Award. You can register to watch here.
The National Book Award for Fiction is celebrating its 75 year anniversary this year, and in its quarter-century life it has expanded the fiction literary community beyond measure. Notable African writers of years past include, Laila Lalami for her work The Other Americans and Scholastique Mukasonga for her work The Barefoot Woman, both long listed in 2019, poet Safia Elhillo was longlisted in 2021 for Home is Not a Country, and Scholastique Mukasonga was the finalist in 2022 for her work Kibogo.
Congrats to the longlisted writers!
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