National Book Award 2016: Complete list of winners

The 2016 National Book Award season brought fresh voices and bold formal experimentation to America’s most prestigious literary honor. Among the year’s standouts, Daniel Borzutzky’s The Performance of Becoming Human claimed the poetry prize, a collection that interrogates language itself while grappling with themes of identity and human dignity. Borzutzky’s win exemplified the National Book Award’s tradition of recognizing work that pushes boundaries—the award, now in its seventh decade, has long served as a barometer for where contemporary American letters are heading.

The National Book Award remains one of the most anticipated literary honors each fall, celebrated for championing ambitious writing across fiction, nonfiction, young people’s literature, and poetry. The 2016 awards demonstrated the breadth of talent being recognized, with judges clearly drawn to works that challenge conventional forms and engage urgent contemporary concerns. Borzutzky’s victory was particularly significant for those tracking the evolution of American poetry, as his spare, declarative style and unflinching subject matter represented a particular strand of twenty-first-century poetic practice gaining wider recognition.

Below you’ll find complete details about the 2016 National Book Award winners and finalists:

Poetry

• The Performance of Becoming Human by Daniel Borzutzky