Original AI-created editorial still life exploring poetry and power. It does not depict Camonghne Felix or the awards ceremony.
Look for Camonghne Felix in nonfiction this awards season. In Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom, Felix brings her experience growing up in New York and working in politics into conversation with literature. The National Book Foundation has named it one of five finalists in nonfiction. The award has not yet been decided.
What makes this a good pick for a circle of Black women readers is the question it puts on the table: who gets to choose the words a community uses to describe itself? Think of the difference between the name a neighborhood gives its gathering place and the label on a city planning map. Both name a place. Only one might tell you why people go there.
If your circle reads together, invite each woman to bring one phrase she would keep in her community’s vocabulary and one she would retire. Let those choices start the conversation before anyone asks who won. The Foundation plans to stream the ceremony free on Wednesday, November 18, at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Gather around this: What name for a place tells a story only the people who love it would know?
Sources
National Book Foundation: 2026 finalists
National Book Foundation: ceremony and free livestream
Read Proverbs in the Women of Color Study Bible · Return to The Network