【Watch Illicit Desire (2017)】

Drum roll pleeeaassseee!

The Watch Illicit Desire (2017)winners of the 2017 National Book Awards are here.

On Wednesday night, the book world came together to celebrate the best new literature of the year in the National Book Foundation's annual National Book Awards ceremony.

SEE ALSO: Women dominate this year's National Book Foundation '5 Under 35' honoree list

Each year, the National Book Awards honor the best new literature in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature.

2017's entries shined a spotlight on some of the year's most exciting books including Jesmyn Ward's much acclaimed novel Sing, Unburied, Sing, which was nominated for the Fiction award. Past National Book Award nominee Jason Reynolds also praised Ward to the MashReads Podcast, saying, "I personally think [Jesmyn] is the greatest writer in the 21st century."

A few MashReads Podcastfavorites were also nominated this year, including Danez Smith's Don't Call Us Deadand Erika L. Sánchez's I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

Check out this year's winners below, along with a quick blurb of what each said when they accepted their award.

Fiction

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Sing, Unburied, Sing

Jesmyn Ward

“You looked at my poor, my Black, my southern women, and you saw yourself. I am deeply honored to each and everyone of you who looks at my work and sees something in it. I hope to continue this conversation with you for all of our days.” 

Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Nonfiction

The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia

Masha Gessen

"I never thought a Russia book could actually be longlisted for the National Book Award but, of course, things have, um, changed.”

Poetry

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

HALF-LIGHT: Collected Poems

By Frank Bidart

“Writing the poems is how I survived. I hope the journey these poems go on will help others survive as well.”

Young People's Literature

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Far From The Tree

By Robin Benway

“Creativity is about getting up, making the coffee, and finding the light that makes the room light up.”

In addition to honoring great new literature, the ceremony also awarded Richard Robinson the Literarian Award for outstanding service to the literary community and awarded Annie Proulx the medal for distinguished contribution to American letters.

You can watch a livestream of the National Book Awards below.

---

Featured Video For You

---

---

Topics Books

• Games
• Tech
• Deals
• Digital Culture
• Social Good
• Science
• Shopping
• Entertainment

• Best robot vacuum deal: Save $140 on roborock Q7 Max Robot Vacuum
• Twitter is experiencing a weird bug that's affecting likes and retweets
• A Trump supporter quoted Beyoncé on CNN because this election can't get any weirder
• New Barbie dolls will come with wheelchair, prosthetic limb
• I'm a college professor. My advice to young people who feel hooked on tech
• These are the dictators who throw opponents in jail — or worse
• Welp, we now know almost everything about Samsung's Galaxy S10 lineup
• Cate Blanchett's BAFTAs dress looks suspiciously like the Infinity Stones
• Samsung Unpacked stream is set for May 12, 2025
• Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey gives himself a 'C' in 'tech responsibility'

• Can consent exist in 'Severance'?
• Best Apple AirTag Deal: 4
• Best Garmin vívoactive 5 deal: Save $70 at Best Buy
• Free Slurpee: How to get free Slurpees on Feb. 21
• Best laptop deal: Save $300 on the Asus ProArt PZ13 at Best Buy
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for February 23: Tips to solve Connections #153
• Which laptops and smartphones are easiest to repair? See the rankings.
• Facebook Live videos will now auto
• NYT mini crossword answers for February 20, 2025
• Government plane swoops over fuming volcano, captures vivid footage

• The cicadas aren't invading the U.S.
• Dear Donald Trump: Some gentlemanly advice
• Amazon reportedly plans to open real
• Chinese Karaoke lyrics make the Trump
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for April 17: Tips to solve Connections #206
• LinkedIn finally rolls out video livestreaming service LinkedIn Live
• Snapchat celebrates Black History Month with a VR art gallery
• People are shook by a very blue Will Smith as Genie in the upcoming 'Aladdin' film
• Time to Unite
• 'Wonder' is first live

• TikTok wants me to host a dinner party. Is that an actual recession indicator?
• Teen protested Trump rally with a 'grab my p*ssy' shirt
• You can watch Shia LaBeouf's wedding, which was sort of normal
• Former MLB star Curt Schilling made a hella good point about poopholes during the debate
• Samsung Unpacked stream is set for May 12, 2025
• 'Metro Exodus' breaks the 'Metro' mold in a sort of boring way: Review
• Driverless cars, electric vehicles and mass transit could transform cities
• Tom DeLonge, formerly of blink
• Big-League Bluster
• Kylie Jenner thought lying about lip injections was the noble thing to do