"Both of the 2024 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize winners have crafted affecting and deeply personal works," said Linda E. Johnson, BPL president and chief executive officer. "Kaveh Akbar's brilliant debut novel Martyr! poetically explores grief, immigration, and addiction, while Dr. Blair LM Kelley's Black Folk traces the history of Black labor through her own family's story."
"I grew up in libraries, the book takes place largely in Brooklyn, and it feels serendipitous to be recognized in this way," Akbar said. "Few things could mean more to me sincerely, hand on my heart."
"I am deeply honored to receive the 2024 Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize for Black Folk," Kelley said. "Libraries have always been spaces for learning and radical possibility."
Librarian Jess Harwick, chair of the Book Prize committee, praised both books for their thought-provoking storytelling, highlighting why nearly 80 books were nominated this year.
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