American Book Awards given to honor works reflecting nation’s cultural diversity

Books on human caging, early Detroit and African-American culture in Los Angeles are among this year’s winners for works reflecting the country’s diversity.

The American Book Awards — announced this past week by the Before Columbus Foundation, founded in 1976 by author-poet Ishmael Reed — honored winners including Kelly Lytle Hernandez’s “City of Inmates: Conquest, Rebellion, and the Rise of Human Caging in Los Angeles, 1771-1965” and Kellie Jones’ “South of Pico: African American Artists in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s.” Tiya Miles was cited for her history “The Dawn of Detroit.”

Other recipients were Victor Lavalle for “The Changeling: A Novel,” Valeria Luiselli for “Tell Me How It Ends,” Tommy Pico for “Nature Poem” and Rena Priest for “Patriarchy Blues.”

Author-filmmaker Sequoyah Guess was given a lifetime achievement award.

The poets-musicians Heroes are Gang Leaders were cited for oral literature.

And an Editor/Publisher Award was given to the late Charles F. Harris, who championed the works of Alice Walker, Nikki Giovanni and other black writers.