Today, the National Book Foundation (NBF) and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have announced the titles selected for the fourth year of the Science + Literature program, which is made possible by a three-year $525,000 renewal grant from the Sloan Foundation.
Each year since its inception, the program has honored three books—one fiction, one nonfiction, and one poetry title—that deepen our understanding of science and technology. The books’ authors are awarded $10,000 each, celebrated at a ceremony in March, and featured in national public programming. To qualify, books must have been published in English by US publishers within the last three years. Winners are chosen by a committee that operates independently of the National Book Foundation staff.
This year’s committee consisted of authors and scientists, and included science journalist and author Sara Goudarzi (The Almond in the Apricot), journalist and author Elizabeth Kolbert (The Sixth Extinction), biologist and author Beronda L. Montgomery (Lessons From Plants), eco-poet and National Book Award winner Craig Santos Perez (from unincorporated territory [åmot]), and neuroscientist, artist, and writer Joshua Sariñana. Craig Santos Perez served as the committee’s chair.
This year’s selections are below:
What the committee had to say:
“With tremendous skill, Ramona Ausubel shows how a newly-single mother and her two teenage daughters survive while trying to help save the planet. Sharp and delightful, the novel explores how science works—and doesn’t work—and the sexism so pervasive that even those not working in the field understand the need to navigate its imposed limitations. The Last Animal is a tour de force that takes readers around the world and asks if we should resurrect those we’ve lost, how to move on without them, and to which part of this globe we belong.”