Kudos to Minneapolis author Louise Erdrich, whose latest novel, "The Round House," won the National Book Award for fiction last night. It’s high time this prolific and incredibly talented author received such notice for her work; no one else writes quite like her.
“The Round House” tracks the efforts of an Ojibwe youth to find justice after his mother is raped. The book, New York Times reviewer Michiko Kakutani wrote, “opens out to become a detective story and a coming-of-age story, a story about how Joe is initiated into the sadnesses and disillusionments of grown-up life and the somber realities of his people’s history.”
At the awards ceremony in New York, Erdrich dedicated her award to “the grace and endurance of native people.”
Minneapolis writer and MCAD instructor William Alexander won in the young people’s literature category for his debut novel, “Goblin Secrets.”
Author Delia Sherman wrote of Alexander's book, "Goblin Secrets includes all my favorite things: mystery, magic, and plenty of thrills, a goblin theatrical troupe, a beautifully realized fantasy world, and an orphan boy searching for his lost brother."
In the nonfiction category, Katherine Boo was honored for “Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.” The poetry winner was David Ferry for “ Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations. Full information is available on the National Book Foundation website.