Grantee Cohort Fall 2017
Location National
The National Book Awards were founded in 1950 to recognize literary excellence in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In 1989, the National Book Foundation was established with the dual mission: to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America by reaching new readers throughout the country, and to celebrate the best in American literature by protecting, preserving, and continuing the National Book Awards. For nearly seven decades, the National Book Awards have honored America’s most important writers, such as William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Susan Sontag, Jonathan Franzen, and more recently, Ta-Nehisi Coates. The Foundation has a long history of connecting readers with stories that emphasize humanity, lend voices to marginalized people, and introduce new ways of thinking about the social issues facing our country.
Art for Justice supported the launch of the Literature for Justice Program, which increased awareness of the injustices of mass incarceration.
