Despite a rocky run-up to the 74^th National Book Awards, the literary world managed to honor American books and writers in New York on Wednesday, naming Justin Torres' "Blackouts" as the best fiction work of 2023 and historian Ned Blackhawk's "The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History" as the top nonfiction book.

The award for translated literature went to Brazilian author Stênio Gardel for his novel "The Words That Remain," along with his translator, Bruna Dantas Lobato. Craig Santos Perez took poetry honors for "from unincorporated territory [åmot]," and Dan Santat won for young people's literature with his graphic novel memoir, "A First Time for Everything." Poet Rita Dove received a Lifetime Acheivement award.

Oprah Winfrey, whose celebrity book club has championed 103 books since its inception in 1996, and whose "Oprah Editions" of her selection have sold an estimated 55 million copies, put the power of being free to read what you want front and center.

"I was 15 years old when I read my first diverse book," Winfrey said. "Maya Angelou's 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,' and the whole world fell away for me. It was the first book at 15 I ever read with a Black protagonist. That book gave a voice to my silences, my secrets. It gave words to my pain and my confusion of being raped at nine-years-old. Until 'Caged Bird,' I didn't know that there was a language, that were words for what had happened to me, or that any other human being on Earth had experienced it. That's the power of books."

Ceremony host LeVar Burton, was back on the podium four years after first hosting the ceremony. Burton, an actor, prominent literacy advocate and host of "Reading Rainbow," took over from Drew Barrymore after the actress and talk show host announced plans to continue producing her show during the Hollywood Writers' strike and in September was disinvited by the National Book Foundation, which organizes the annual awards.

"It was my mother who taught me at a very young age, that if you can read in at least one language you are by her definition free, and the idea of freedom feels especially fraught in this global political moment," Burton said. "There are wars and rumors of wars and the machineries of war at work. And on the home front, we are fighting for control of truth and how we interpret truth in this country. Books are being banned, words are being silenced. Writers and others who champion books are under attack."

The war reference wasn't lost on the audience, which followed the escalating tension and was prepared for the finalists' collective statement on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Torres made a short speech thanking friends and family, then ceded the microphone to Aaliyah Bilal, who spoke to the audience while a group of finalists remained on stage.

"We oppose the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and call for a humanitarian ceasefire to address the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, particularly children," Bilal said. "We oppose antisemitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment and Islamophobia equally, accepting the human dignity of all parties. Knowing that further bloodshed does nothing to secure lasting peace in the region."

Here is the list of the 2023 National Book Award winners (in boldface type) and finalists:

Fiction

• Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, "Chain-Gang All-Stars"
• Aaliyah Bilal, "Temple Folk"
• Paul Harding, "This Other Eden"
• Hanna Pylväinen, "The End of Drum-Time"
• Justin Torres, "Blackouts"

Nonfiction

• Ned Blackhawk, "The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History"
• Cristina Rivera Garza, "Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice"
• Christina Sharpe, "Ordinary Notes"
• Raja Shehadeh, "We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir"
• John Vaillant, "Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World"

Poetry

• John Lee Clark, "How to Communicate"
• Craig Santos Perez, "from unincorporated territory [åmot]"
• Evie Shockley, "suddenly we"
• Brandon Som, "Tripas"
• Monica Youn, "From From"

Translated literature

• Bora Chung, "Cursed Bunny." Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur
• David Diop, "Beyond the Door of No Return." Translated from the French by Sam Taylor
• Stênio Gardel, "The Words That Remain." Translated from Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato
• Pilar Quintana, "Abyss." Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman
• Astrid Roemer, "On a Woman's Madness." Translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott

Young people's literature

• Kenneth M. Cadow, "Gather"
• Huda Fahmy, "Huda F Cares?"
• Vashti Harrison, "Big"
• Katherine Marsh, "The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine"
• Dan Santat, "A First Time for Everything"