DOCSLIB.ORG

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Color Purple by Alice Walker Dr. Tanima Kumari Assistant Professor Department of English C.M. College, Darbhanga (L.N.M.U. Darbhanga) “For in the end, freedom is a personal and lonely battle; and one faces down fears of today so that those of tomorrow might be engaged.” —Alice Walker Alice Walker: A Brief Life Born February 9, 1944 (age 76) Eatonton, Georgia, U.S. Occupation Novelist, short story writer, poet, political activist Alma mater Spelman College Sarah Lawrence College Period 1968–present Genre African‐American literature Notable works The Color Purple Notable awards Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 1983 National Book Award 1983 African American Literature • African American literature refers to a body of literature written by Americans of African descent. • African Americans launched their literature in North America during the second half of the 18th century, joining the war of words between England and its rebellious colonies. • Despite the enormous outpouring of creativity during the 1920s, the vogue of black writing, black art, and black culture waned markedly in the early 1930s as the Great Depression took hold in the United States. • Declaring that “all art is ultimately social,” Hansberry along with several African American writers like Baldwin and Alice Walker took an active part in the civil rights movement and the freedom struggles of the late 1950s and the ’60s. • A variety of literary, cultural, and political developments during the 1950s and ’60s, including the impact of the women’s movement on African American women’s consciousness, fostered what has been termed “the Black Women’s Literary Renaissance” of the 1970s. Preface of The Color Purple • The Color Purple, Alice Walker’s best‐known work, published in 1982. • It won a PulitzerProduct A Prize in 1983. • It is a feminist work about an abused and uneducated African‐American woman’s struggle for empowerment. • The Color Purple movingly depicts the growing up and self‐realization of Celie,who overcomes oppression and abuse to find fulfilment and independence. • The Color Purple was praised for the depth of its female characters and for its eloquent use of Black English Vernacular. • It was though not without critics, many of whom objected to its explicit language and sexual content. (continued…) Preface of The Color Purple (cont.) . In 1985 Steven Spielberg directed an acclaimed film adaptation of the book . It featured Whoopi Goldberg (Celie), Danny Glover (Albert), and Oprah Winfrey (Sofia) . In 1986 the film won Academy Awards in nine different genre . InthesameyearitwonGolden Globes award too for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture . The Color Purple was also adapted for the theatre, and the first Broadway production premiered in 2005 Overview of The Color Purple • The Color Purple documents the traumas and gradual triumph of Celie, an African American teenager raised in rural isolation in Georgia, as she comes to resist the paralyzing self‐concept forced on her by others. • Celie narrates her life through painfully honest letters to God. These are prompted when her abusive father, Alphonso, warns her not to tell anybody but God after he rapes her and she becomes pregnant for a second time at the age of 14. • When the widowed Mr. Albert proposes marriage to Celie’s younger sister, Nettie, Alphonso pushes him to take Celie instead, forcing her into an abusive marriage. SoonthereafterNettie flees Alphonso and briefly lives with Celie. However, Albert’s continued interest in Nettie results in her leaving. • Celie subsequently begins to build relationships with other black women, especially those engaging forcefully with oppression. Of note are the defiant Sofia, who marries Albert’s son Harpo; and Shug Avery, a glamorous and independent singer who is also Albert’s sometime mistress. (continued…) Overview of The Color Purple (cont.) • But the most important of them was Shug, a blues singing, no‐nonsense lady. The two women grow close, eventually becoming lovers. • During this time Celie discovers that Albert has been hiding letters that Nettie has sent her. Celie begins reading them and learns that Nettie has befriended a minister, Samuel, and his wife, Corrine, and that the couple’s adopted children, Adam and Olivia, are actually Celie’s. • An emboldened Celie then decides to leave Albert and go to Memphis with Shug. Once there, Celie comes into her own and creates a successful business selling tailored pants. Her happiness, however, is tempered somewhat by Shug’s affairs, though Celie continues toloveher. • Following Alphonso’s death, Celie inherits his house, where she eventually settles. During this time she develops a friendship with Albert, who is apologetic about his earlier treatment of her. • After some 30 years apart, Celie is then reunited with Nettie, who has married Samuel. Celie also meets her long‐lost children. • The family is whole again. Celie has survived— physically and spiritually. Major Themes • Religion • Family • Race • Love • Marriage • Violence • Sex • Sexual Identity Some Underlying Points • The Color Purple is not an easy book to read because it is not written in the style of most novels. The author does not tell us everything about the characters and the setting and why the characters behave as they do. • This novel consists of a series of letters, none of which are dated, and in order to have a time frame for the novel, we will have to read through it carefully, watching for clues about social attitudes, clothes, and other telling details. • If we number these letters carefully, we find that Celie writes Letters 1–51. Nettie's letters begin with Number 52. The letters end with Number 90. • Only after finishing the book one realizes that the letters begin in a time when people ride around in wagons, and when the letters end, people are driving cars. Thus, the time span of the novel is about forty years. • Celie is uneducated, and she is writing exactly as she speaks and thinks. Shewritesher letters in nonstandard dialect, what Walker has called black folk language. “Reading The Color Purple was the first time I had seen Southern, women’s literature as world literature. In writing us into the world—bravely, unapologetically, and honestly—Alice Walker has given us a gift we will never be able to repay.” —Tayari Jones “The Color Purple was what church should have been, what honest familial reckoning could have been, and it is still the only art object in the world by which all three generations of Black artists in my family judge American art.” —Kiese Laymon “A novel of permanent importance.”—Peter S. Prescott “A saga filled with joy and pain, humor and bitterness, and an array of characters who live, breathe, and illuminate the world.” —Publishers Weekly Points to Ponder Upon • In what ways are Nettie and Celie different? In what ways are they similar? Does Shug replace Nettie in Celie's life? • What justification, if any, do Fonso and Mr. Albert have for treating Celie the way that they do? • Keeping in mind that Celie's husband, Mr. Albert, has a classic villainous character, how can you explain his hiding Nettie's letters to Celie instead of destroying them? • How do Nettie's letters differ from Celie's? How are they the same? • Explain the relationship between the colour of purple and the feeling of beauty. References • ANELLO, R. "Characters in Search of a Book." Newsweek 99:67 (June 21, 1982). • BRADLEY, D. "Telling the Black Woman's Story." New York Times Magazine 2437(January8, 1984). • Carey‐Webb, Allen. “Novels ‐‐ The Color Purple by Alice Walker” English Journal; Sep 1995; 84, 5 • Christopher S. Lewis. “Cultivating Black Lesbian Shamelessness: Alice Walker's "The Color Purple“. Rocky Mountain Review, Vol. 66, No. 2 (Fall 2012), pp. 158‐175 • COUGHLAN, MARGARET N. Folklore from Africa to the United States. Washington: Library of Congress, 1976. • GOLDSTEIN, W. "Alice Walker on the Set of The Color Purple." Publishers Weekly 228:468 (September 6, 1985). • MAHDI DEHGHANI. “Identity And Religion In Alice Walker’s The Color Purple”. Journal of Research in Gender Studies. Volume 4(2), 2014. pp. 448–454..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Author Biography Toni Morrison Discussion Guide
    TONI MORRISON DISCUSSION GUIDE (630) 232-0780 [email protected] AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY The second of the four children of George and Ramah (Willis) Wofford, Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford in Lorain, Ohio, a steel town twenty-five miles west of Cleveland. During the worst years of the Great Depression, her father worked as a car washer, a welder in a local steel mill, and road-construction worker, while her mother, a feisty, determined woman, dealt with callous landlords and impertinent social workers. "When an eviction notice was put on our house, she tore it off," Morrison remembered, as quoted in People. "If there were maggots in our flour, she wrote a letter to [President] Franklin Roosevelt. My mother believed something should be done about inhuman situations." In an article for the New York Times Magazine, Morrison discussed her parents' contrasting attitudes toward white society and the effect of those conflicting views on her own perception of the quality of black life in America. Ramah Wofford believed that, in time, race relations would improve; George Wofford distrusted "every word and every gesture of every white man on Earth." Both parents were convinced, however, that "all succor and aid came from themselves and their neighborhood." Consequently, Morrison, although she attended a multiracial school, was raised in "a basically racist household" and grew up "with more than a child's contempt for white people." After graduating with honors from high school in 1949, Toni Morrison enrolled at Howard University in Washington, DC. Morrison devoted most of her free time to the Howard University Players, a campus theater company she described as "a place where hard work, thought, and talent" were praised and "merit was the only rank." She often appeared in campus productions, and in the summers she traveled throughout the South with a repertory troupe made up of faculty members and students.
    [Show full text]
  • The Color Purple Study Guide
    CREATIVE TEAM ALICE WALKER (Novel) won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for her third novel, The Color Purple, which was made into an internationally popular film by Steven Spielberg. Her other best-selling novels, which have been translated into more than two dozen languages, include By the Light of My Father’s Smile, Possessing the Secret of Joy, and The Temple of My Familiar. Her most recent novel, Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart, was published in 2004. Ms. Walker is also the author of several collections of short stories, essays, and poems as well as children’s books. Her work has appeared in numerous national and international journals and magazines. An activist and social visionary, Ms. Walker’s advocacy on behalf of the dispossessed has, in the words of her biographer, Evelyn C. White, “spanned the globe.” MARSHA NORMAN (Book) won the Pulitzer Prize for her play ’Night, Mother and a Tony Award for her book of the musical The Secret Garden. Her other plays include Getting Out, Traveler in the Dark, Sarah and Abraham, Trudy Blue, The Master Butchers Singing Club, and Last Dance. She also has written a novel, The Fortune Teller. She has numerous film and TV credits, Grammy and Emmy nominations, and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and the Fellowship of Southern Writers. Ms. Norman is a native of Kentucky who lives in New York City and Long Island. BRENDA RUSSELL (Music & Lyrics) has a unique musical perspective, intimate voice, and prolific treasure trove of lyrics that prove a truly glowing talent only deepens with time.
    [Show full text]
  • Welty, Eudora, House Other
    NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 WELTY, EUDORA, HOUSE Page 1 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service__________________________________________National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: Welty, Eudora, House Other Name/Site Number: 2. LOCATION Street & Number: 1119 Pinehurst Street Not for publication: City/Town: Jackson Vicinity:, State: Mississippi County: Hinds 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Category of Property Private: _ Building(s): X_ Public-Local: _ District: _ Public-State: X_ Site: _ Public-Federal: Structure: _ Object:_ Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 2 _ buildings 1 _ sites _ structures _ objects Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register: 3 Name of Related Multiple Property Listing: NFS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 WELTY, EUDORA, HOUSE Page 2 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register criteria.
    [Show full text]
  • Award-‐Winning Literature
    Award-winning literature The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult literature. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English". The Carnegie Medal in Literature, or simply Carnegie Medal, is a British literary award that annually recognizes one outstanding new book for children or young adults. The Michael L. Printz Award is an American Library Association literary award that annually recognizes the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit". The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award is a literary award that annually recognizes one fiction book, written for children by a British or Commonwealth author, published in the United Kingdom during the preceding year. FICTION Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, Michael L. Printz Winner 2012 A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize 2011 Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, National Book Award 2011 The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, Man Booker Prize 2011 Ship Breaker by Paolo Baciagalupi, Michael
    [Show full text]
  • Michigan Celebrates African American History Month with Literature
    The MichiganMichigan Department Celebrates of Education African and American the Library History of Michigan Month are with excited to showcase African American authors and their literary works 4 Literature, February 2021, Week 4 each week during the month of February in celebration of African American History Month. Seven authors and their works are featured and were selected from nominations submitted by educators for use by educators. Student literacy increases powerfully as students see themselves (mirrors) and others (windows) portrayed accurately in their reading as presented in the work of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop. By raising the consciousness about great African American authors from educators to educators and by lifting up African American authors and their works, we seek to create conditions for greater engagement with literature among Michigan students. February Each Kindness Jacqueline Woodson Age: 0-8 years Incorporation in Curriculum: “I adore this book due to its unexpected outcome. 22 Genre: Fiction I use this book as a mentor text for personal ISBN: 978-0399246524 narrative writing with my third graders. Many Awards: ALA Notable books are used for immersion to narrative writing Children’s Books - Middle but few stand out and stick with the students like Readers Category: 2015 this book. The main character is mean to a new Coretta Scott King Award girl and refuses to befriend her and almost stops (Authors) her from having other friends in her new school. At the end of the story the mean girl cannot National Book Awards: think of any kind thing she has done to add to Young People’s Literature the class discussion and she is never able to Nominator: Ed Spicer make things right with the new girl because she School/District/Institution: leaves! It really impacts my students and leads to (Formerly) North Ward discussion of how important it is to try to always Elementary/Allegan Public be kind.
    [Show full text]
  • Major Literary Award Winners in the Medium-Sized Academic Library
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln E-JASL: The Electronic Journal of Academic E-JASL 1999-2009 (volumes 1-10) and Special Librarianship Summer 2006 Major Literary Award Winners in the Medium-Sized Academic Library Todd Spires Bradley University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ejasljournal Part of the Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Scholarly Communication Commons, and the Scholarly Publishing Commons Spires, Todd, "Major Literary Award Winners in the Medium-Sized Academic Library" (2006). E-JASL 1999-2009 (volumes 1-10). 62. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ejasljournal/62 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the E-JASL: The Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in E- JASL 1999-2009 (volumes 1-10) by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Copyright 2006, the author. Used by permission. Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship v. 7 no. 2 (Summer 2006) Major Literary Award Winners in the Medium-Sized Academic Library Todd Spires, Collection Development Librarian Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois, USA [email protected] Abstract This article addresses the role of major literary award-winning books and authors in the medium-sized academic library. It details a study performed at Bradley University’s Cullom-Davis Library in early 2006. The project surveyed award- winning books held by the library at the time of the study. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate past selection performance of these materials, to provide data on items that the library needs to acquire and to encourage library faculty to watch for and make use of literary and other prize winning materials.
    [Show full text]
  • Fiction Award Winners 2019
    1989: Spartina by John Casey 2016: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen National Book 1988: Paris Trout by Pete Dexter 2015: All the Light We Cannot See by A. Doerr 1987: Paco’s Story by Larry Heinemann 2014: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt Award 1986: World’s Fair by E. L. Doctorow 2013: Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson 1985: White Noise by Don DeLillo 2012: No prize awarded 2011: A Visit from the Goon Squad “Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an 1984: Victory Over Japan by Ellen Gilchrist by Jennifer Egan American literary prize administered by the National 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker 2010: Tinkers by Paul Harding Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization.” 1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike 2009: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout - from the National Book Foundation website. 1980: Sophie’s Choice by William Styron 2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao 1979: Going After Cacciato by Tim O’Brien by Junot Diaz 2018: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez 1978: Blood Tie by Mary Lee Settle 2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy 2017: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward 1977: The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner 2006: March by Geraldine Brooks 2016: The Underground Railroad by Colson 1976: J.R. by William Gaddis 2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Whitehead 1975: Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone 2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones 2015: Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson The Hair of Harold Roux 2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 2014: Redeployment by Phil Klay by Thomas Williams 2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo 2013: Good Lord Bird by James McBride 1974: Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon 2001: The Amazing Adventures of 2012: Round House by Louise Erdrich 1973: Chimera by John Barth Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon 2011: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward 1972: The Complete Stories 2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri 2010: Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon by Flannery O’Connor 1999: The Hours by Michael Cunningham 2009: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann 1971: Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Discussion Kits - Prizewinners
    Book Discussion Kits - Prizewinners Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood - The fictionalized account of one of the most notorious women of the nineteenth century who was convicted of murdering her employer and his mistress. Scotiabank Giller Prize All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren - Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this classic is generally regarded as the finest novel ever written on American politics. It is the story of Willie Stark, a back-country lawyer whose idealism is overcome by his lust for power. Pulitzer Prize All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - The National Book Award-winning story of three friends who set out in 1949 to cross the Rio Grande in search of the cowboy life. National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - In 1939 New York City, Joe Kavalier, a refugee from Hitler's Prague, joins forces with his Brooklyn-born cousin, Sammy Clay, to create comic-book superheroes inspired by their own fantasies, fears, and dreams. Pulitzer Prize Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - A young woman from Nigeria leaves behind her home and her first love to start a new life in America, where despite her academic success she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. National Book Critics Circle Award Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt - The Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir of childhood in the slums of Limerick, Ireland, told with humor, compassion and forgiveness. Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - A Pulitzer Prize-winning story recounting the lives of four generations living in the American West.
    [Show full text]
  • National Book Awards Established in 1950, the National Book Award Is an American Literary Prize Administered by the National Book Foundation, a Nonprofit Organization
    National Book Awards Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. National Book Award Winners – 2015 Fiction: DB National Book Award Finalists – 2015 Fiction: DB 82476 Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff DB 82453 Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson DB 81645 A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara DB 81504 Welcome to Braggsville by T. Geronimo Johnson (Longlist) DB 80413 Honeydew: Stories by Edith Pearlman (Longlist) Nonfiction: DB 82201 Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates DB 82438 The Soul of an Octopus: a Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery DB 82465 If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran by Carla Power DB 82316 Rain: A Natural and Cultural History by Cynthia Barnett (Longlist) DB 81457 Love and Other Ways of Dying: Essays by Michael Paterniti (Longlist) Young People’s Literature: DB 81401 Bone Gap by Laura Ruby DB 81908 Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman DB 81938 X by Ilyasah Shabazz (Longlist) National Book Award Winners – 2014 Fiction: DB 78988 Redeployment by Phil Klay Nonfiction: DB 79724 Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China by Evan Osnos Young People’s Literature: DB 80026 Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson National Book Award Finalists – 2014 Fiction: DB 78325 An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine DB 79182 All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr DB 79693 Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel DB
    [Show full text]
  • THE GOSPEL ACCORDING to SAUL BELLOW by Donald E. Byrne, M.A
    THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAUL BELLOW by Donald E. Byrne, M.A. A Thes :i.s submitted to the Faculty of the Gnlduate School, Marquette University in Pa ~ tial Fulfillment of the Re. ~u5rements for the Degree of Mas ter of Arts Milwaukee, Wisconsin July, 1966 PREFACE Theology, in its quest for relevance and understanding, has recently begun to probe modern literature with fresh vigor in a search for the values of the modern man. This paper is an attempt to underline the themes in the writings of Saul Bellow~ ." a Jewish writer who is commonly acknowledged to be the best novelist of his generation... -which are perti­ nent to the theologian seeking understanding of modern man. I wish to thank Fr. Bernard Cool<e, whose encouragement and direction has made this paper possible. CONTENTS Introduction . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .. • • • • • • 0 ••••••••••••• .1 Chapter I ... .. .. • 5 Chapter II. .• Part I. .. 19 Part II. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 ••• • 33 Part III. ................................ • 42 Chapter III. " ....................................... 51 pangling Man . • 0 •••••••••••• 0.0 ••••••••••• . 52 The Victim ... ................. • 65 The Adventures of Augie March. ......... ., . .80 Seize the Day •••..•....• . .. .. .. .. 93 Henderson the Rain Kin&.. ••••••••••• eo ••• . 110 Berzog • •••••••• 111 ••••••••••• 0 ••••••• 1\ •••• • 121 Conclusion . If ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• . 136 Bibliography. ~ ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 0 ••••••• . 150 . INTRODUCTION . At first glance, Saul Bellow's literar y accomp lish- ments read like a Madison Av enue promo tional stunt. His writings--six novels , s everal plays and short stories , numerous articles for ---Hudson Review, Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, Esguire, New Rcpublic--have earned him a cluster of awards. 1 In 1948, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship; four years later he rece ived the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award.
    [Show full text]
  • National Book Award Winners
    National Book Award Winners Check out the full list of winners, including honor books at http://www.nationalbook.org/bawinners_category.html Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Once an author has been a National Book Award Finalist or Winner, he or she becomes a permanent member of the National Book Foundation family. This is a list of the Children’s Book and Young People’s Literature Award winners. Please note that between 1980-1983, awards were given for 2014: Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson various Children’s Books. (Youth Biography WOODSON) 2013: The Thing About Luck, Cynthia Kadohata (JF KAD) In addition, no awards for Children’s Books or Young People’s 2012: Goblin Secrets, William Alexander (JF ALE) 2011: Inside Out & Back Again, Thanhha Lai (JF LAI) Literature were given between 1983-1996. 2010: Mockingbird, Kathryn Erskine (YA F ERS) 2009: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, Phillip M. Hoose (YA Biography COLVIN) 2008: What I Saw and How I Lied, Judy Blundell (YA F BLU) 2007: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie (YA F ALE) 2006: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party, M.T. Anderson (YA F AND) 2005: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, Jeanne Birdsall (JF BIR) 2004: Godless, Pete Hautman (YA F HAU) 2003: The Canning Season, Polly Horvath (YA F HOR) 2002: The House of the Scorpion,
    [Show full text]
  • January-February 2020 American Nobel Prize Winners In
    January-February 2020 A Bimonthly Publication of the U.S. Consulate Krakow Volume XVI. Issue 164 American Nobel Prize winners in literature Nobel Museum in Stockholm archives and displays the heritage of Alfred Nobel and the Laureates of his Prizes. Photo B. Pilat In this issue: American Nobel Laureates in Literature Zoom in on America American Nobel Prize Winners in Literature Sinclair Lewis Eugene Gladstone O’Neill Above: Sinclair Lewis, the famous American novelist, seated on the steps of a caravan, typing, while his wife, Miss Dorothy Thompson, seated behind him, looks on, somewhere in England in May 1928. They couple spent their honeymoon in a caravan, touring of Great Britain. Photo AP Images Right: Eugene O’Neill shakes hands with a canine friend at his chateau in Tours, France, July 21, 1930. Photo AP Images Harry Sinclair Lewis was born on February 7, 1885 in Sauk Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born on October 16, 1888 Centre, Minnesota. In his childhood Lewis was very shy, in a hotel room in New York City. O’Neill was the son of a but he was an avid reader. Lewis graduated from Yale traveling actor; thus, he was well-acquainted with theatri- University in 1908 and then began a career as a journal- cal productions from a very young age. During most of his ist and book editor in various cities throughout the United childhood he accompanied his father on the road. In 1906 States. During this time, he also wrote his first four novels, he enrolled at Princeton University, but soon discovered none of which were successful.
    [Show full text]