Percival Everett, the prolific author of dozens of books, won the fiction prize Wednesday at this year's National Book Awards. He won for his book James , which retells the story of Huckleberry Finn but from the perspective of Jim — the escaped slave Huck becomes friends with. At his acceptance speech, Everett let his work speak for itself and stuck to thanking family, friends and colleagues.
But he did open with a jab at artificial intelligence, saying it's "no replacement for the real thing." The 75th National Book Awards ceremony took place in New York City Wednesday night. The actress, comedian and recent author Kate McKinnon hosted the show and took her own shots at A.
I. in her opening monologue. "A book is an offering.
It's a hand in the darkness, a way of saying 'I know, isn't this crazy?'" she said. "And that's something a robot will never be able to do." The non-fiction award went to Jason De León, who's book Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling is an anthropological look at the people who bring migrants over the southern border.
In his speech, he addressed the recent presidential election, saying "I will not accept the dystopian American future of unchecked corruption, border walls, misogyny, mass deportations, transphobia, climate change denial and all this other garbage that this incoming administration wants to propagate and profit from." Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, winner of the poetry award, also addressed politics — criticizing .
