Book critics give fiction prize to Edwidge Danticat

NEW YORK (AP) - Edwidge Danticat's story collection 'œEverything Inside'ť has won the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction. Chanel Miller was awarded in autobiography for 'œKnow My Name,'ť her book about being sexually assaulted by Stanford University student Brock Turner.

The critics circle usually announces its awards during a Manhattan ceremony, but called off the gathering over concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. This year's honors were announced Thursday through a press release.

Danticat's stories - tales of love, family and mortality set partly in her native Haiti - previously won the Story prize for best short fiction. The critics circle praised 'œEverything Inside" for narratives that have 'œno forced happy endings, no unearned deliverances.'ť

For biography, the critics chose Patrick Radden Keefe's 'œSay Nothing: The True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. Josh Levin's 'œThe Queen: The Forgotten Life Behind an American Myth'ť won in biography and Morgan Parker's 'œMagical Negro'ť received the poetry award. Saidiya Hartman 'ťWayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Stories of Social Upheaval" was the winner in the criticism category.

Among the finalists for autobiography was Ronan Farrow's 'œCatch and Kill,'ť based on his Pulitzer Prize winning reporting about Harvey Weinstein. The Hollywood producer was sentenced this week to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.

Sarah M. Broom's memoir 'œThe Yellow House'ť received the John Leonard Award for best first book. An honorary award for criticism was given to The New Yorker's Katy Waldman and the poet and novelist Naomi Shihab Nye received a lifetime achievement prize.