The Carnegie Awards, established in 2012 by The American Library Association to reflect the expert judgment and insight of library professionals and booksellers who work closely with adult readers, this week announced The Swimmers (Knopf) by Julie Otsuka as the winner of the Medal for Excellence in Fiction and An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us (Random House) by Ed Yong as the Nonfiction winner.
Fiction Winner: The Swimmers (Knopf) by Julie Otsuka
In an underground pool, a collective “we” reports the comings and goings of the titular swimmers, regulars who have established their schedules, lanes, and paces with comforting familiarity, until a crack in the pool floor causes upheaval. The water was an essential haven for Alice, whose story aboveground is a polyphonic reveal through her fading memories. She survived imprisonment as a Japanese American during WWII, and now a final erasure looms. Otsuka’s devastating masterpiece is an extraordinary examination of the fragility of human relationships.
The other 2023 fiction finalists were Greenland by David Santos Donaldson and Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty.
Nonfiction Winner: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us (Random House) by Ed Yong.
In his groundbreaking work of sensory biology and animal behavior, Yong examines animals’ unique perceptual abilities, like the platypus with a bill that detects electric fields, the echolocation prowess of bats and dolphins, the ultrafast vision of killer flies, and the outstanding olfaction of elephants. Yong’s scientific curiosity is contagious, and his writing is empathetic, impeccably researched, imaginative, and entertaining.
The other 2023 nonfiction finalists were Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson and Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage by Rachel E. Gross.
“A hearty congratulations to our Medalists for achieving such high standards of excellence with their latest books,” said Stephen Sposato, chair of the selection committee for the 2023 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence. “Julie Otsuka proves herself a master of narrative voice, thrillingly balancing the incredible vitality of community life with the myriad challenges faced by individuals and families within that community. And, standing out even during a recent golden age of nature writing, Ed Yong dazzles with a deeply considered exploration of the many modes of sensory perception that life has evolved to navigate the world, written with exhilarating freshness. My thanks to an outstanding committee who deliberated with humbling sensitivity and thoughtfulness to select these winners.” Sposato added, “I’m as proud of them as I know they are of our winners and all our nominees.”
More information on the finalists and the awards can be found here.