Books National Book Awards 2017: See the full list of winners By David Canfield David Canfield David Canfield is a Staff Editor. He oversees the magazine's books section, and writes film features and awards analysis. EW's editorial guidelines Published on November 15, 2017 Photo: Simon and Schuster; Algonquin Books; Viking At the 2017 National Book Awards, Jesmyn Ward won her second prize in the Fiction category for Sing, Unburied, Sing and celebrated Russian journalist Masha Gessen took home the Nonfiction trophy. The National Book Foundation convened Wednesday night to present its prestigious awards for the best in books for 2017. The finalists in the four main categories — Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature — had been previously announced, with shortlisted books including Jennifer Egan’s novel Manhattan Beach, Kevin Young’s prescient history of hoaxes Bunk, and Angie Thomas’ YA phenomenon The Hate U Give among the many high-profile titles to miss the cut. Ward, who’d previously won the National Book Award for Salvage the Bones, competed in Fiction once again, opposite first-time contenders Elliot Ackerman, Min Jin Lee, Carmen Maria Machado, and Lisa Ko, the latter two of whom were included for their debuts. Over in Nonfiction, several books tackling the current political climate were cited as finalists, including Gessen’s The Future Is History and Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains. The 2017 National Book Awards were hosted by Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Cynthia Nixon, and took place in New York. See the full list of winners below. Fiction Elliot Ackerman, Dark at the CrossingLisa Ko, The LeaversMin Jin Lee, PachinkoCarmen Maria Machado, Her Body and Other Parties: StoriesWINNER: Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing Nonfiction Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona JudgeFrances FitzGerald, The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape AmericaWINNER: Masha Gessen, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed RussiaDavid Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBINancy MacLean, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America Poetry WINNER: Frank Bidart, Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016Leslie Harrison, The Book of EndingsLayli Long Soldier, WHEREASShane McCrae, In the Language of My CaptorDanez Smith, Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems Young People’s Literature Elana K. Arnold, What Girls Are Made OfWINNER: Robin Benway, Far from the TreeErika L. Sánchez, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican DaughterRita Williams-Garcia, Clayton Byrd Goes UndergroundIbi Zoboi, American Street