Junot Díaz, Louise Erdrich Among National Book Award Nominees

Get your library cards ready.

By Jamilah King Oct 10, 2012

The 2012 nominees for the National Book Awards were announced this morning, and a couple notable writers of color made the list. Dominican American author Junot Díaz continues to have the best month ever; his latest collection of short stories, "This Is How You Lose Her", was released last month and he just won a $500,000 MacArthur Genius Grant. He’s among this year’s nominees for fiction — and he’s also keynoting our Facing Race conference in Baltimore next month.

Also among this year’s nominees in fiction is Native Americn writer Louise Erdrich and her book "The Round House."

The non-fiction finalists include Anthony Shadid’s "House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East." Sadly, Shadid, a New York Times journalist, was killed tihs year while covering conflicts in the Middle East.

Take a look at the full list of nominees. The winners will be chosen next month in New York City.