Congratulations to local poet, John Ashbery, on receiving the National Book Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters! In his acceptance speech, Ashbery spoke about the joys of writing poetry, saying “Writing the poetry I write gives me a pleasure I can almost taste”. More information on Ashbery and the award is available on the National Book Foundation website.
Other 2011 National Book Award Winners:
FICTION: Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones
NONFICTION: Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
POETRY: Nikky Finney, Head Off & Split
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE: Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again
Mitchell Kaplan, co-founder of the Miami Book Fair International, received the Foundation’s Literarian Award for Outstanding Contribution to the American Literary Community.
