Bryan Stevenson: Winner of the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Nonfiction

On Saturday, June 27th, at the annual American Library Association conference, Bryan Stevenson was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for nonfiction for his book Just Mercy.

The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established by the American Library Association in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year. The winners (one for fiction, one for nonfiction) are announced at the ALA Annual Conference. Winning authors receive a $5,000 cash award and two finals in each category receive $1,500. The winner is chosen by a seven-member selection committee of library professionals from across the country who work closely with adult readers.

The awards were created in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The awards were created during the foundation’s centennial and in recognition of Andrew Carnegie’s deep belief in the power of books and learning to change the world.

On winning the award Stevenson had this to say: “I’m pretty overwhelmed. I’m thankful to you, for creating a space where something like this can happen to someone like me.”

He also spoke about libraries and books: “[They] get you to do some things and understand some things that you can’t otherwise understand. I wrote this book  because I was persuaded that if people saw what I see [regarding mass incarceration], they would insist on something being different.”

Watch a brief interview with Bryan Stevenson about winning the Andrew Carnegie Medal below.

To read more about the award ceremony click here.

For more information about the Andrew Carnegie Medal click here.

Find past winners of the Andrew Carnegie Medal here.