Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Winners Announced
James Patterson, Juan Felipe Herrera Among Honorees
Tonight, the 36th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, which recognize outstanding literary achievement in 10 categories across traditional and emerging genres, were awarded at the University of Southern California’s iconic Bovard Auditorium. James Patterson received the Innovator’s Award, in recognition of his cutting-edge contributions to literature and literacy efforts; Juan Felipe Herrera was honored with the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. A complete list of this year’s Book Prizes winners follows.
The Book Prizes ceremony is a highlight during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the largest literary and cultural festival in America. This year’s Festival is the 21st annual, and convenes over 600 authors, musicians, artists, chefs and personalities to engage, inform and entertain attendees on the University of Southern California campus.
- Biography: Hayden Herrera, Listening to Stone: The Art and Life of Isamu Noguchi, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Current Interest: Sarah Chayes, Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, W. W. Norton and Company
- Fiction: Valeria Luiselli, translated by Christina MacSweeney, The Story of My Teeth, Coffee House Press
- Graphic Novel/Comics: Riad Sattouf, Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir, Metropolitan Books
- History: Dan Ephron, Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel, W. W. Norton and Company
- Mystery / Thriller: Don Winslow, The Cartel, Alfred A. Knopf
- Poetry: Jorie Graham, From the New World: Poems 1976-2014, Ecco/HarperCollins
- Science & Technology: Andrea Wulf, The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World, Alfred A. Knopf
- The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction: Chigozie Obioma, The Fishermen, Little, Brown and Company
- Young Adult Literature: Marilyn Nelson, My Seneca Village, namelos
- Innovator’s Award: James Patterson
- Robert Kirsch Award: Juan Felipe Herrera
The complete list of 2015 Book Prizes finalists and previous winners is available at latimes.com/bookprizes, as is eligibility and judging information. Festival of Books news and updates are available on the event website, Facebook page and Twitter feed (#bookfest).
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