National Book Award 1978: Complete list of winners

The 1978 National Book Award showcased the breadth of American literary achievement, honoring both a celebrated poet’s lifetime retrospective and an innovative work of children’s literature that challenged young readers to see the world through entirely new eyes. In the poetry category, Howard Nemerov’s The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov claimed the prize—a recognition of one of the era’s most accomplished and intellectually rigorous voices. Nemerov’s accolades reflected the National Book Award’s continued commitment to honoring poets whose work combined technical mastery with philosophical depth, even as the literary landscape was shifting around them.

Meanwhile, the Young People’s Literature award went to Judith Kohl and Herbert Kohl for The View From the Oak: The Private Worlds of Other Creatures, a work that broke new ground by inviting young readers to engage with nature and animal cognition in imaginative, speculative ways. This choice revealed something important about how the National Book Award valued literature for children—not as simplified entertainment, but as a serious form of intellectual exploration. The 1978 winners together painted a picture of a prestigious award dedicated to recognizing excellence across different audiences and poetic traditions, from the intricately crafted verse of an established master to educational literature that expanded children’s capacity for wonder.

Here are the complete winners from this significant year in American letters:

Poetry

• The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov† by Howard Nemerov

Young People’s Literature

• The View From the Oak: The Private Worlds of Other Creatures by Judith KohlandHerbert Kohl