Jessica Hagedorn, R.F. Kuang among winners of American Book Awards, which celebrate multiculturalism

NEW YORK (AP) — Author-playwright Jessica Hagedorn, “Yellowface” novelist R.F. Kuang and poet Monica Youn are among this year’s recipients of the 45th annual American Book Awards, which honor “outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum” of the country’s artistic and cultural community. The awards were announced Monday by the nonprofit Before Columbus Foundation, which Ishmael Reed helped establish in the 1970s as a way to champion multiculturalism. In the diverse spirit of the foundation, winners ranged from the late Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the progressive magazine Tikkun, to the Latino poet and performance artist Paul S. Flores.