Winners of the 2006 National Book Awards

The Winners of the 2006 National Books Awards are announced on November 15, 2006 in New York City, New York. The National Book Award is one of the most important literary prizes in the United States, presented annually for the best books by living U.S. citizens published in the U.S. The awards have been presented since 1950

Prizes are awarded in each of four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature. The winners in each category are selected by five-member, independent judging panels. Judges chose from 1,259 books submitted by publishers. They each receive a $10,000 cash prize and a crystal sculpture. The National Book Foundation administers the awards.

This year's winners are:

Non-Fiction
Timothy Egan
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (Houghton Mifflin)

Fiction
Richard Powers
The Echo Maker (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Poetry
Nathaniel Mackey
Splay Anthem (New Directions)

Children's Literature
M.T. Anderson
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume One: The Pox Party (Candlewick Press)

At the ceremony, Poet Mark Doty presented the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Adrienne Rich.

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker, presented Robert Silvers and Barbara Epstein with The Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.

Did you pick any winners?

JWil