Left Bank Books is proud to share that bookseller Danielle King is among the 25 judges selected for the National Book Awards, one of the nation’s highest literary honors that shapes the discourse in literature, publishing, and bookselling.
The National Book Awards, administered by the National Book Foundation, has been a literary tradition since 1936 to recognize works across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature. The foundation selects five judges for each category based on nominations, recommendations from previous judges, and executive recruitment.
This year, Danielle King has the honor of representing Left Bank Books, and the St. Louis literary committee, on the fiction judging panel. King joined Left Bank Books in 2020 as a part-time bookseller, and now works as General Manager.
“Being selected for the Fiction Panel of this year’s National Book Awards is a wild honor, and working with my fellow panelists is such a delight,” says King.
She is also an outgoing member of the American Bookseller Association’s Bookseller Advisory Committee, and has served on panels for the Midwest Independent Bookseller Association and American Bookseller Association.
King’s selection as a judge is also suggestive of a concerted effort to increase representation of booksellers in the National Book Awards. “As a bookseller, it’s so often my job to put the right book in the right person’s hand at the right time, and I feel terribly fortunate to interact with the wealth of literary riches on offer this year,” says King.
Judges act as independent panels to develop and release a long-list of ten books in each category by late-August, and a short-list shortly thereafter.
“So many of these incredible novels speak so well to the present moment, and it’s incredible to participate in this process, which helps me to bring even more literature of relevance and value to the vibrant St. Louis literary community,” says King.
The National Book Award will be announcing the long list titles across all categories September 15 to September 17.
