今年討論最多的一本書榮獲國家圖書獎
Ta-Nehisi Coates won the National Book Award for nonfiction Wednesday night for “Between the World and Me,” a visceral, blunt exploration of his experience of being a black man in America, which was published this summer in the middle of a national dialogue about race relations and inequality.
星期三晚上，塔-奈西希·科特斯(Ta-Nehisi Coates)的《在世界與我之間》(Between the World and Me)獲得國家圖書獎非虛構類大獎，這是一部真誠直率的作品，探索作者身爲黑人在美國的經歷。今年夏天它出版之時，正值整個國家都在討論種族關係與種族不平等話題的時機。
“Every day you turn on the TV and see some kind of violence being directed at black people,” Mr. Coates said in an emotional acceptance speech. “Over and over and over again. And it keeps happening.”
“每一天打開電視，都能看到針對黑人的暴力，”科特斯在動人的獲獎致辭中說，“一次又一次，這種事還在持續發生。”
The fiction award went to Adam Johnson for “Fortune Smiles,” a collection of surreal and comic short stories that deal with natural disasters, technology and politics, and take place in settings ranging from Palo Alto, Calif., and New Orleans to North Korea. The judges called Mr. Johnson “one of the most talented writers of his generation” and called his stories by turns “surprising, wondrous, comic and devastating.” Mr. Johnson won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2012 novel “The Orphan Master’s Son.”
今年的虛構類獎項由亞當·約翰遜(Adam Johnson)的《幸運在微笑》(Fortune Smile)獲得，這部短篇小說集中充滿超現實與滑稽的故事，內容包括天災、技術與政治，有的發生在加利福尼亞的帕羅奧圖，有的發生在新奧爾良，還有的發生在朝鮮。評委說約翰遜是“同代人中最有才華的一位作者”，並說他的小說“時而驚人、時而奇妙、時而滑稽，時而可怕”。2012年，約翰遜曾憑着小說《孤兒大師之子》(The Orphan Master’s Son)獲得普利策獎。
“Between the World and Me,” which was published by Spiegel & Grau, was one of the most celebrated and widely discussed books of the year, and won comparisons to the work of James Baldwin.
《在世界與我之間》與詹姆斯·鮑德溫(James Baldwin)的著作角逐該獎項並最終勝出，它由Spiegel & Grau出版社出版，是今年最著名，也是最受廣泛討論的一本書。
Mr. Coates, a correspondent for The Atlantic, wrote the book in the form of a letter to his son. He dedicated the award to his college friend, Prince Jones, who was shot to death by a police officer who mistook him for a criminal. “I’m a black man in America. I can’t punish that officer; ‘Between the World and Me’ comes out of that place,” Mr. Coates said. “I can’t secure the safety of my son. I just don’t have that power. But what I do have the power to do is say, ‘You won’t enroll me in this lie. You won’t make me part of it.’ “
科特斯是《大西洋月刊》(The Atlantic)的記者，這本書以他給兒子的信的形式寫成。他把這個獎獻給自己大學時期的友人普林斯·瓊斯(Prince Jones)，瓊斯被警察誤認爲犯罪分子，遭到射殺。“我是個生活在美國的黑人。我不能懲罰那個警察；《在世界與我之間》就是這樣開始構思的，”科特斯說，“我不能保證我兒子的安全。我沒有那個力量。但我有力量說出，‘你不能讓我加入這個謊言，你不能把我算在內。’”
The National Book Award, which was established in 1950, has gone to some of the country’s most celebrated authors, including William Faulkner, Saul Bellow and Flannery O’Connor. Presented by the National Book Foundation, the award was open to American authors who published books from Dec. 1, 2014, to Nov. 30, 2015. The prizes were presented at a black-tie dinner in Manhattan at Cipriani Wall Street, with more than 700 guests.
國家圖書獎於1950年創立，曾經頒發給這個國家最著名的作家，包括威廉·福克納(William Faulkner)、索爾·貝婁(Saul Bellow)和弗蘭納裏·奧康納( Flannery O’Connor)。該獎項由國家圖書基金會主辦，評獎範圍包括任何美國作家從2014年12月1日至2015年11月30日出版的圖書。頒獎儀式是在曼哈頓的西普利亞尼華爾街飯店舉辦的正裝晚宴，有700多名賓客出席。
Along with “Fortune Smiles,” finalists in the fiction category included Hanya Yanagihara’s “A Little Life,” which follows four ambitious young college friends in New York as one of them grapples with his dark past; Lauren Groff’s novel “Fates and Furies,” which tells the story of a marriage from the husband and wife’s perspectives, revealing the secrets they kept; Karen E. Bender’s short-story collection “Refund;” and Angela Flournoy’s debut novel, “The Turner House,” about multiple generations of a Detroit family.
除了《幸運在微笑》，入圍虛構類決選名單的還包括柳原櫻(Hanya Yanagihara)的《小人生》(A Little Life)，它講述紐約四個年輕有志的大學生朋友們的故事，其中一人要與自己的黑暗過去作鬥爭；勞倫·格羅夫(Lauren Groff)的小說《命運與憤怒》(Fate and Furies)，分別從丈夫和妻子的角度講述一段婚姻的故事，揭示出她們各自的祕密；此外還有卡倫·E·班達(Karen E. Bender)的短篇小說集《返款》(Refund)和安吉拉·弗洛諾伊(Angela Flournoy)的處女小說《特納之家》(The Turner House)，講述一個底特律家族幾代人的故事。
The award for Young People’s Literature was given to Neal Shusterman’s “Challenger Deep,” a novel about a mentally ill teenager who has dark fantasies about traveling to the deepest point on earth, which was inspired by Mr. Shusterman’s son.
青年文學獎(Young People’s Literature)被授予尼爾·舒斯特曼(Neal Shusterman)的《挑戰者之深》(Challenger Deep)，這部小說講述一個患有精神疾病的少年懷着陰鬱的幻想，想象自己在地心最深處旅行。舒斯特曼創作的靈感來自他的兒子。
The poet Robin Coste Lewis won for her collection, “Voyage of the Sable Venus,” a meditation on cultural and artistic depictions of the black female figure that juxtaposes autobiographical verses with reflections on cultural stereotypes and art.
詩人羅賓·科斯特·劉易斯(Robin Coste Lewis)憑詩集《黑色維納斯的旅行》(Voyage of the Sable Venus)獲得詩歌獎。這部充滿沉思的詩集既是對一個黑人女性角色的文化與藝術的描繪，也是一部自傳性的詩歌，反思文化刻板形象與藝術。
The best-selling novelist James Patterson received the Literarian Award, for outstanding service to the literary community, in recognition of his philanthropic efforts to support independent bookstores and promote literacy in public schools. Mr. Patterson, who has sold more than 300 million copies of his books, has donated $2.75 million to school libraries and bookstores.
暢銷小說家詹姆斯·帕特森(James Patterson)憑他對文學界的卓越服務獲得文學貢獻獎(Literarian Award)，以表彰他支持獨立書店，在公立學校掃盲的慈善努力。帕特森的書賣出了三億冊，他曾向各學校圖書館與書店捐獻過275萬美元。
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Patterson joked about his outsider status as a commercial author in elite literary company, calling himself the “Big Mac at Cipriani.” He issued a call for publishers to “innovate more.”
作爲商業作家，帕特森在精英文學圈中算是局外人，在獲獎致辭中，他拿這個開起了玩笑，說自己是“西普利亞尼的巨無霸漢堡”。他還號召出版社“多做革新”。
“Let’s all be literarians, whatever the hell that means,” he said. “Let’s try to make sure there’s another generation of readers.”
“讓我們大家都成爲文學家，不管這個詞到底是什麼意思，”他說，“我們要努力讓下一代人還讀書。”
The novelist Don DeLillo, whose eerily prescient works explore technology, surveillance and terrorism, was given the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters for his “diverse body of work that examines the mores of contemporary modern American culture.”
小說家唐·德里羅(Don DeLillo)的作品如同古怪的預言，探索技術、監視與恐怖主義，他因其“多樣的作品，審視了現當代美國文化中的風俗”而被授予傑出貢獻勳章(Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters)。
Mr. DeLillo, who won a National Book Award for his novel “White Noise” in 1985, is famously reticent and rarely grants interviews or discusses his work. He will release a new novel, “Zero K,” about a billionaire whose wife has a terminal illness, next May.
德里羅曾於1985年因小說《白噪音》(White Noise)獲得國家圖書獎，他以寡言少語聞名，極少接受採訪或談起自己的作品。明年五月他將出版新的小說《零K》(Zero K)，講述一個妻子病入膏肓的億萬富翁的故事。
He was typically understated in his acceptance speech, and at his request, his remarks were not streamed on videocast. Rather than talking about his work or his evolution as a writer, he spoke reverently about a room where he keeps his collection of old paperbacks, and what those books mean to him.
他在獲獎致辭中顯得一如既往的低調，在他的要求之下，他的致辭沒有在網絡廣播中播放。他沒有談起自己的作品或寫作的演化，而是虔誠地談起自己用來收藏老舊平裝書的屋子，以及那些書籍對於他的意義。
“When I visit the room, I’m not the writer,” he said. “That’s the guy who lives down the hall. Here I’m not the writer at all, I’m the grateful reader.”
“每當走進那間屋子，我就不是作家，”他說。“那個住在大廳裏的傢伙纔是作家。在這件屋子裏，我根本就不是什麼作家，只是一個心懷感恩的讀者。”
