World Literary Awards

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Los Angeles Times Book Prize ろさんぜるす・たいむず ぶっくしょう

Edition 40 (2019)

BiographyCurrent interestFictionArt Seidenbaum Award for First FictionHistoryMystery/ThrillerPoetryScience and TechnologyYoung Adult NovelGraphic Novel/ComicsRay Bradbury Prize (SF/Fantasy/Speculative Fiction)Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical ProseInnovator's AwardRobert Kirsch AwardAchievement in Audiobook Production (established 2023, presented by Audible)

Winners

14 people

An epic novel that reimagines Zambian history across generations through myth, family saga, and speculative invention.

An epic novel that reimagines Zambian history across generations through myth, family saga, and speculative invention.

576 pages
historyfamily sagaspeculative fiction
George Packer Winner

A biography that examines Richard Holbrooke's ambition, flaws, and role in shaping late-20th-century American diplomacy.

A biography that examines Richard Holbrooke's ambition, flaws, and role in shaping late-20th-century American diplomacy.

608 pages
biographydiplomacyAmerican politics
Emily Bernard Winner

A collection of essays that explores race, family, and embodied experience through Emily Bernard's perspective as a Black woman.

A collection of essays that explores race, family, and embodied experience through Emily Bernard's perspective as a Black woman.

240 pages
essaysracefamily
Emily Bazelon Winner

A sharp examination of prosecutorial power that questions sentencing, bail, discretion, and the machinery of mass incarceration.

A sharp examination of prosecutorial power that questions sentencing, bail, discretion, and the machinery of mass incarceration.

448 pages
lawcriminal justicereform
Ben Lerner Winner

Set in 1990s Topeka, the novel follows a debate star and his family while probing the link between language, power, and identity.

Set in 1990s Topeka, the novel follows a debate star and his family while probing the link between language, power, and identity.

282 pages
coming of agefamilylanguage

A graphic novel that quietly follows a couple trying to build a future, a home, and a family in a tense near future.

A graphic novel that quietly follows a couple trying to build a future, a home, and a family in a tense near future.

152 pages
graphic novelfamilynear future

A research-driven history book that reexamines white women's role in slaveholding in the American South.

A research-driven history book that reexamines white women's role in slaveholding in the American South.

320 pages
historyslaverygender
Steph Cha Winner

A suspense novel that traces the aftershocks of racial violence in Los Angeles through two families connected by old trauma.

A suspense novel that traces the aftershocks of racial violence in Los Angeles through two families connected by old trauma.

304 pages
racefamilymemory of violence
Ilya Kaminsky Winner

A poetry collection set in an occupied town where silence becomes a form of resistance after a boy is killed.

A poetry collection set in an occupied town where silence becomes a form of resistance after a boy is killed.

96 pages
poetrywarresistance
Maria Popova Winner

A wide-ranging exploration of love, truth, and meaning that connects lives from Johannes Kepler to Rachel Carson.

A wide-ranging exploration of love, truth, and meaning that connects lives from Johannes Kepler to Rachel Carson.

592 pages
history of sciencewomenintellectual history
Malla Nunn Winner

A young adult novel set at a Swaziland boarding school where two girls discover friendship across class and racial divides.

A young adult novel set at a Swaziland boarding school where two girls discover friendship across class and racial divides.

272 pages
young adultboarding schoolfriendship
Marlon James Winner

An expansive fantasy novel that blends African history and myth as a mercenary searches for a missing child.

An expansive fantasy novel that blends African history and myth as a mercenary searches for a missing child.

640 pages
fantasymythadventure
WriteGirl Special Award
Walter Mosley Winner