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, the finalists for the National Book Awards have been whittled to just half that number. The National Book Foundation released its shortlists Thursday for its annual prize in four categories: 

.

Among the novelists, scholars, poets and illustrators listed below, some — such as 

 and Rita Dove — are no strangers to literary laurels. Dove, a former U.S. poet laureate, brings the heft of three decades of poems — while Nguyen has racked up a raft of honors over a career much more brief (so far). Meanwhile, Woodson is now one step from returning to the stage she took in 2014, when 


Still, the lists feature more than just past awards-season favorites. 

, a lecturer at Stanford, has earned the nod for her first poetry collection, while it's Nicola Yoon's second novel, 

, that made this year's shortlist for young people's literature.


Beyond a medal, a statue and adoring gazes, the winning author in each category also receives $10,000. Winners for all four categories will be announced on Nov. 16 in New York City.


In the meantime, one winner has been decided already: 

, who has earned the medal for distinguished contribution to American letters — the National Book Awards' version of a lifetime achievement honor. The Pulitzer- (and National Book Award- and National Book Critics Circle Award-) winning biographer will receive his award on the same night.


Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War

The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America

Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy

Arts and Culture

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

Colin Dwyer

Author

Minnesota author Kate DiCamillo, Colson Whitehead and Jacqueline Woodson  are just three of the authors on the shortlists for the National Book Awards. The 20 books still in contention for the prizes were unveiled Thursday.

Here are the 2016 National Book Award finalists

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