2020 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction to be Awarded to Colson Whitehead
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced that Colson Whitehead, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels “The Nickel Boys” and “The Underground Railroad,” will receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction during the 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival on Sept. 25-27. Whitehead, 50, is the youngest person to receive the Library’s fiction award for his lifetime of work.
She also talked to the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and National Book Festival veteran (2009, 2012, 2016, and this year) about the need for stories from our past to help us contend with the present—especially at moments of great change. This presentation will be available on both the Library’s Facebook page and at https://www.facebook.com/libraryofcongress External and on the Library of Congress website at https://www.loc.gov/collections/event-videos/.