Three authors who demonstrated how scientific research can be wedded to literary grace have been awarded US$10,000 (approximately RM40,400) prizes.
On Wednesday, the National Book Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in the United States announced the winners of the fifth annual Science + Literature awards.
The books include Kimberly Blaeser's poetry collection, Ancient Light, inspired in part by the environmental destruction of Indigenous communities; the novel Bog Queen by Anna North, the story of a forensic anthropologist and a 2000-year-old Celtic druid; and a work of nonfiction, Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian's Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness Of Nature.
"These gifted storytellers shine a scientific and poetic light on the beauties and terrors of nature and what they reveal to us about our deepest selves, our humanity, and our existence on this planet,” Doron Weber, vice president and programme director at the Sloan Foundation, said in a statement.
Ruth Dickey, executive director of the National Book Foundation, said in a statement that the new winners continue the awards' mission to highlight "diverse voices in science writing that … enlighten, challenge, and engage readers everywhere.”
The Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards, one of the literary world's most prestigious events. The Sloan Foundation has a long history of supporting books that join science and the humanities, including Kai Bird's and Martin J. Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning "American Prometheus,” which director Christopher Nolan adapted into the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer.
"At a time when science is under attack, it has become more urgent to elevate books that bring together the art of literature with the wonders of science,” Daisy Hernandez, this year's chair of the awards committee and a 2022 Science + Literature honoree, said in a statement. - AP
