Bryan Stevenson won the Carnegie Medal last night in San Francisco at the national convention of the American Library Association for the best nonfiction book of 2014. Stevenson’s memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption was shortlisted earlier this year for the Carnegie prize which recognizes the best fiction and nonfiction for adults each year. Anthony Doerr won the fiction prize for his bestselling novel, All the Light We Cannot See, which also won the Pulitzer Prize last month.
Mr. Stevenson and Mr. Doerr made acceptance remarks in front of 300 librarians and book enthusiasts gathered for the award announcement. The event also featured remarks from NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has championed the importance of public libraries for years and has just published a new novel with Ana Waterhouse titled Mycroft Homes.
Just Mercy was previously announced as a finalist for the Carnegie prize along with Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, which won this year’s Pulitizer Prize and Lawrence Wright’s 13 Days in September: Carter, Begin and Sadat at Camp David.