Held in downtown Manhattan on Wednesday night, the evening opened with host LeVar Burton joking, Are there any Moms for Liberty in the house? No? Good! Then hands will not need to be thrown tonight. It ended with a joint statement from a group of writers calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
On behalf of the finalists, we oppose the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and call for a humanitarian cease-fire to address the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, particularly children. We oppose antisemitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment and Islamophobia equally, accepting the human dignity of all parties, knowing that further bloodshed does nothing to secure lasting peace in the region.
Ahead of the event, facing questions about how the organization would respond to political speech on the stage, the National Book Foundation issued a statement reminding attendees that political statements are by no means unprecedented at the National Book Awards, or indeed at any awards ceremony.
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