Phil Klay’s Redeployment , a debut collection of searching, satiric and often agonised stories by an Iraq war veteran, has won the National Book Award for fiction.
Mr. Klay was chosen on Wednesday night over such high-profile finalists as Marilynne Robinson’s Lila and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven . Clearly surprised and moved, Mr. Klay spoke of his work as an essential way to understand his 13 months in Iraq and the adjustment back home.
“War’s too strange to be processed alone,” he said, thanking readers who “decided to join the conversation.”
The nonfiction prize went to Evan Osnos for his book on modern China, Age of Ambition . Former U.S. poet laureate Louise Glueck’s Faithful and Virtuous Night won for poetry, and Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming won for young people’s literature.
The evening started with honorary prizes being presented to literary advocate Kyle Zimmer and to science fiction-fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin.
The awards, in their 65th year, were announced at a Manhattan ceremony hosted by author Daniel Handler, of Lemony Snicket fame. Winners in competitive categories each received $10,000.
