By
Nora Luongo
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In November, the 2020 National Book Award winners were announced through a first-ever virtual livestreamed ceremony. Two faculty from the School of Arts & Sciences-Newark (SASN), Rigoberto González and James Goodman, were among the judges for the awards this year.
Every year, among hundreds of contenders, the National Book Foundation nominates 25 books to its shortlist five fiction, five nonfiction, five poetry, five translated, and five young adult for the National Book Award, which are then narrowed down to one winner in each category.
Judges are made up of writers, translators, critics, librarians, and booksellers. Each category has a panel of five judges who have expertise in that category. Judges are considered leaders in their respective field, individuals with enough knowledge and experience to offer fair and honest assessments of each book in consideration for the award. The poetry jury is the only one composed of poets. The other committees