'The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois' wins US book critics award

Jeffers' novel about racism, resilience and identity named for the influential Black scholar and activist has received the fiction prize from the National Book Critics Circle. Photo: AP

Honoree Fanonne Jeffers' The Love Songs Of W.E.B. Du Bois, her epic novel about racism, resilience and identity named for the influential Black scholar and activist, has received the fiction prize from the National Book Critics Circle in the US.

The critics circle praised Jeffers for "weaving several centuries’ worth of ‘songs’ from the ancestors into her narrative of the coming of age and young adulthood of a brilliant Atlanta scholar.”

Jeffers, a professor of English at the University of Oklahoma and author of five poetry collections, was among the winners announced on Thursday during a ceremony held online because of the coronavirus pandemic.