One of the great joys of attending the National Book Critics Circle awards each March in New York City is being able to watch the surprised expressions when someone wins, and to hear the heartfelt, happy speeches.
Ada Limón won the poetry award last week for her collection, "The Carrying," published by Minneapolis' Milkweed Editions. When her name was called, she looked genuinely surprised — and her remarks were generous and full of heart.
"While writing may seem like a lonely venture — the introvert's isolated stadium — we know we never write in a vacuum," she said. "We write with all the good ghosts in our corners. I, for one, have never made anything alone, never written a single poem alone."
Tommy Orange, who won the John Leonard Prize for best first book for his novel, "There There," was wry and funny but also serious.
"Native American anything never gets attention," he said. "For this all to happen is a good moment that I hope doesn't come and go like it has in the past."
Maureen Corrigan won the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing for her book reviews for National Public Radio and the Washington Post. She talked about being drawn to writing reviews for the Village Voice years ago when she was working on a doctorate and feeling miserable at putting her words "through the de-flavorizing machine" of her university.
Her father was proud when she did her first piece for "Fresh Air," but warned her there was no future in radio.
Most moving were remarks by the staff of the small 40-year-old Texas publisher Arte Público Press, which won the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. Five people trooped happily up to the stage, and for a second I flashed to memories of the Academy Awards and wondered if each one intended to give a full speech.
