NEW YORK - Phil Klay and Evan Osnos were given the top prizes at the 65th National Book Awards, among the most prestigious literary prizes in U.S. publishing, at a gala dinner on Wednesday that honored the best fiction, non-fiction, poetry and young adult writers.
Klay was awarded the fiction prize for ‘Redeployment,’ his book of stories about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osnos earned his award for ‘Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China’ in the non-fiction category. ‘Redeployment’ was picked from a short list of fiction works by authors Rabih Alameddine, Marilynne Robinson, Anthony Doerr and Emily St. John Mandel.
‘I did not think I would be up here,’ a surprised Klay, who is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, said accepting the award. In their citation, the judges described the book as a ‘kaleidoscopic vision of conflict and homecoming’ and Klay as the ‘quintessential storyteller of America’s Iraq conflict.’ Osnos, who wrote about China’s drive toward modernization and the role of the individual and the Communist Party, competed among non-fiction works by Roz Chast, John Lahr, Anand Gopal and Edward O. Wilson. Louise Gluck was awarded the poetry prize for ‘Faithful and Virtuous Night’ in the category in which four of the five finalists were women.