National Book Awards, 2023

[tiganeasca]

There were other winners in other categories but these may be of especial interest:

Winner, Fiction​

Hardcover $30.00

Blackouts (National Book Award Winner)
By Justin Torres

“I wanted it to feel like stepping off the world…”
Blackouts by Justin Torres (We the Animals) explores love, loss and the stories we leave behind with inventive and transformative form and prose.

Justin joins us on our Poured Over podcast to talk about the source material for this novel, the importance of telling queer stories, navigating legacy, loneliness and identity and more. You can find Poured Over wherever you listen to podcasts, stream from our blog, or watch on our YouTube channel.

Winner, Translated Literature​

Paperback $16.95

The Words That Remain (National Book Award Winner)​

By Stênio Gardel
Translator Bruna Dantas Lobato
A novel that explores the universal power of the written word and language, and the power they hold in human relationships. Explore Brazil’s little-known hinterland as well its urban haunts, in this story of repression and shame, survival and endurance.

Winner, Poetry​

Paperback $22.95

From Unincorporated Territory [åmot] (National Book Award Winner)​

By Craig Santos Perez

This book is the fifth collection in Craig Santos Perez’s ongoing from unincorporated territory series about the history of his homeland, the western Pacific island of Guåhan (Guam), and the culture of his indigenous Chamoru people.

 

[Leseratte]

There were other winners in other categories but these may be of especial interest:

Winner, Fiction​

Hardc

Winner, Translated Literature​

Paperback $16.95

The Words That Remain (National Book Award Winner)​

By Stênio Gardel
Translator Bruna Dantas Lobato
A novel that explores the universal power of the written word and language, and the power they hold in human relationships. Explore Brazil’s little-known hinterland as well its urban haunts, in this story of repression and shame, survival and endurance.

This novel was also a finalist of the Jabuti 2022. The original title is A palavra que resta.
"A letter has beckoned to Raimundo since he received it over fifty years ago from his youthful passion, handsome Cícero. But having grown up in an impoverished area of Brazil where the demands of manual labor thwarted his becoming literate, Raimundo has long been unable to read. As young men, he and Cícero fell in love, only to have Raimundo’s father brutally beat his son when he discovered their affair. Even after Raimundo succeeds in making a life for himself in the big city, he continues to be haunted by this secret missive full of longing from the distant past. Now at age seventy-one, he at last acquires a true education and the ability to access the letter. Exploring Brazil’s little-known hinterland as well its urban haunts, this is a sweeping novel of repression, violence, and shame, along with their flip side: survival, endurance, and the ultimate triumph of an unforgettable figure on society’s margins. The Words That Remain explores the universal power of the written word and language, and how they affect all our relationships.
"https://www.amazon.com/Words-That-Remain-Stênio-Gardel/dp/1954404123

 

[Americanreader]

Torres had an excellent essay "It had to be gold" anthologized in Best American Essays 2022 for those who have access to that volume.

 

[Bartleby]

This novel was also a finalist of the Jabuti 2022. The original title is A palavra que resta.
"A letter has beckoned to Raimundo since he received it over fifty years ago from his youthful passion, handsome Cícero. But having grown up in an impoverished area of Brazil where the demands of manual labor thwarted his becoming literate, Raimundo has long been unable to read. As young men, he and Cícero fell in love, only to have Raimundo’s father brutally beat his son when he discovered their affair. Even after Raimundo succeeds in making a life for himself in the big city, he continues to be haunted by this secret missive full of longing from the distant past. Now at age seventy-one, he at last acquires a true education and the ability to access the letter. Exploring Brazil’s little-known hinterland as well its urban haunts, this is a sweeping novel of repression, violence, and shame, along with their flip side: survival, endurance, and the ultimate triumph of an unforgettable figure on society’s margins. The Words That Remain explores the universal power of the written word and language, and how they affect all our relationships.
"https://www.amazon.com/Words-That-Remain-Stênio-Gardel/dp/1954404123

Oh, thank you for calling attention to this book in particular. I may have seen the Brazilian cover around, but didn't register the author's name in my mind... thought he was from some Spanish-speaking country, somehow... taking a look at both original and translated texts, I found quite nice a solution the translator found for some words, especially the very beginning of the second chapter, in which the narrator says Cícero starts with a c, just like, in Portuguese, coração (heart) and cu (arsehole), and, in English, caring and cock. Anyway, adding to my list

 

[Leseratte]

Oh, thank you for calling attention to this book in particular. I may have seen the Brazilian cover around, but didn't register the author's name in my mind... thought he was from some Spanish-speaking country, somehow... taking a look at both original and translated texts, I found quite nice a solution the translator found for some words, especially the very beginning of the second chapter, in which the narrator says Cícero starts with a c, just like, in Portuguese, coração (heart) and cu (arsehole), and, in English, caring and cock. Anyway, adding to my list

Sounds interesting, Bartleby. Where did you find the texts so quickly?

 

[Bartleby]

Sounds interesting, Bartleby. Where did you find the texts so quickly?

Amazon samples

 

[Leseratte]

Amazon samples

Thanks!

 

[lucasdiniz]

This novel was also a finalist of the Jabuti 2022. The original title is A palavra que resta.
"A letter has beckoned to Raimundo since he received it over fifty years ago from his youthful passion, handsome Cícero. But having grown up in an impoverished area of Brazil where the demands of manual labor thwarted his becoming literate, Raimundo has long been unable to read. As young men, he and Cícero fell in love, only to have Raimundo’s father brutally beat his son when he discovered their affair. Even after Raimundo succeeds in making a life for himself in the big city, he continues to be haunted by this secret missive full of longing from the distant past. Now at age seventy-one, he at last acquires a true education and the ability to access the letter. Exploring Brazil’s little-known hinterland as well its urban haunts, this is a sweeping novel of repression, violence, and shame, along with their flip side: survival, endurance, and the ultimate triumph of an unforgettable figure on society’s margins. The Words That Remain explores the universal power of the written word and language, and how they affect all our relationships.
"https://www.amazon.com/Words-That-Remain-Stênio-Gardel/dp/1954404123

I actually read A palavra que resta one or two years ago and it was beautiful, sad, poetic, everything. It's quite raw in its portrayal of homophobia and violence. It made it to the select group of books that made me cry.