Hullabaloo Over Writer's Awards: Unknown Authors Do Succeed

The National Book Awards panel in New York City, chose five little known books for awards over some heavy hitters such as Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan's collaborative effort about the Boston Red Sox. They also bypassed such high-profiled works as Phillip Roth's The Plot against America . The three authors felt snubbed and stated that those who won did not deserve the award.

Lily Tuck won the prestigious NBA award for her fiction novel, The News from Paraguay , the story of Ella Lynch, the Irish-born mistress of 19 th century Paraguayan leader Francisco Selano Lopez. Kevin Boyle's Art of Justice won the non-fiction category. Poetry was awarded to Jean Valentine for her work, Door in the Mountain , while the young people's literature award went to Pete Hautman's, Godless .

The NBA stated that they liked the five unknown books the most, simply because they were the best. It appears that high standards and quality have won out over familiar names in the marketplace.   

It's inspiring to see relatively unknown authors recognized for the quality of their work. I am finding, through research and discussion, that the majority of publishers are looking for uplifting, well written, positive thinking material. I'm going out to buy some more books.  

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