*A biography of the late George Floyd is among the works included on lists of nominees for the National Book Awards.
“His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice,” by Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, is a nonfiction nominee, The Associated Press reports. The tome “reveals how systemic racism shaped George Floyd’s life and legacy—from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing—telling the story of how one man’s tragic experience brought about a global movement for change,” per Penguin Random House.
Floyd was murdered by members of the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25, 2020. He was killed outside of a convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for roughly 9 1/2 minutes until he lost consciousness and died.
Chauvin was ultimately convicted on state charges of murder and manslaughter as well as federal civil rights offenses for killing Floyd. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
READ MORE: Thomas Lane: Ex-Minneapolis Cop Sentenced to 3 years in George Floyd’s Murder | WATCH
The Floyd biography is longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award in the nonfiction category along with “John A. Farrell’s “Ted Kennedy: A Life,” New Yorker writer Kathryn Schulz’s “Lost & Found: A Memoir,” Anna Badkhen’s “Bright Unbearable Reality: Essays” and Natalie Hodges’ “Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time,” per The AP.
The outlet notes that the nonfiction nominees also include: Meghan O’Rourke’s “The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness,” Imani Perry’s “South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation,” David Quammen’s “Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus,” Ingrid Rojas Contreras’ “The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir” and Kelly Lytle Hernández’s “Bad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlands.”
The poetry nominees are John Keene’s “Punks: New & Selected Poems,” Roger Reeves’ “Best Barbarian,” Rio Cortez’s “Golden Ax,” Shelley Wong’s “As She Appears” and Allison Adelle Hedge Coke’s “Look at This Blue.”
The fiction nominees will be announced Friday, according to the report.
The National Book Foundation will announce the winners on Nov. 16.
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