This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.
One of my favorite award short lists was just announced, the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award. From their website:
Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award
From his home in Hartford, Mark Twain changed the way the world sees America and the way Americans see themselves.
Part of what makes Mark Twain’s work such an iconic piece of American history is the part he played in establishing a uniquely American voice in literature – especially with his 1885 masterpiece Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Just as Huckleberry Finn defined the voice of 19th-century America, The Mark Twain House & Museum looks to recognize modern voices that define our current America.
First presented in 2016, the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award honors a work of fiction from the previous calendar year that speaks with an “American Voice” about American experiences.
The award carries a $25,000 cash prize underwritten by David and Michelle Baldacci.
Save the Date:
November 1 is the 2024 American Voice in Literature Award Celebration!
For more information CLICKING HERE.
To read about this year’s panel of Judges, click HERE.
2023 – Jennifer Haigh for Mercy Street
2022 – Dawnie Walton for The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
2021 – Stephen Graham Jones for The Only Good Indians.
2020 – Ocean Vuong for On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
2019 – Jesmyn Ward for Sing, Unburied, Sing
2018 – Bill Beverly for Dodgers
2017 – T.C. Boyle for The Harder They Come
The official short list of titles for the 2024 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award includes:
- Absolution by Alice McDermott
- Be Mine by Richard Ford
- Emergency by Kathleen Alcott
- Night Watch by Jayne Ann Phillips
- North Woods by Daniel Mason
- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
- This Other Eden by Paul Harding
- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
- Wednesday's Child by Yiyun Li
- White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link
The first thing you may notice is that these titles are not brand new. This award is normally a full year behind. They say so above in their about statement-- "previous calendar year". So these are titles that came out in 2023. This is wonderful for you because these are titles that I know you own AND they are probably on the shelf right now.
But what I also love about this award is that it recognizes the "American" experience as captured in a work of fiction and the committee loves genre and marginalized voices. As they should because those authors and story types capture a wider view of America.
On the bottom of the page for the banquet, it says this about Twain and the award:
The mission of The Mark Twain House & Museum: Mark Twain changed the way the world sees America and the way Americans see themselves. We carry on this legacy to foster an appreciation of Twain as one of our nation's defining cultural figures, and to demonstrate the continuing relevance of his work, life, and times.
These are novels that define who WE are-- as America-- at the snapshot in time of the award. The idea that the jury takes a wide view for this honor, looking at these titles as they express the American Experience is unique for an award. It also warms my American Studies major heart. Speaking of my college-- a professor who was there when I was in college and who taught my kid was one of the judges this year.
Three years ago I wrote at length about Stephen Graham Jones winning this award for The Only Good Indians which it a MASTERPIECE of American literature. In that post I also talk about why this award is such a great resource. Click through for more on that.
Back to the short list. These 10 titles, taken together, represent many valid examples of the "American" experience. This alone, the short list providing a realistically wide view of what "American" means today, makes it a great resource.
If you simply take he last few years' of finalists, you have a diverse (both in identity of the authors and genres offered) display you can title it "The American Experience" and put it up anytime of year.
The only problem wit this award is that they don't have a database of nominees and winners. They have the list of past winners (posted above) on the award's homepage but they make it hard to find more than that top level information.
But very specific Google searches can penetrate their archived web pages. I have done the work for you and cobbled together places where the shortlist authors have been reported going back to the first award in 2019. The first three, are via me. I have been posting this award every year since 2021 to make sure someone is keeping this list of authors. It is too good a resource to allow that to happen but it does appear that 2017 and 18 are lost except for the winners.
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