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National Book Awards finalist readings event recordings

 Record Group
Identifier: NS-07-02-48

Abstract

The New School hosted the National Book Awards finalist readings from 1998 until 2019. This collection of audiovisual recordings documents nominated finalists reading their work at the university the night before the awards ceremony.

Dates

  • 1998-2010

Creator

Extent

.2 Cubic Feet

7 Audio CD

4 VHS Cassettes

4 DAT

1 hi8

2 minidv

17 1/4 inch Audio Cassette

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of analog and digital audiovisual recordings documenting the National Book Awards finalists readings, held each year in mid-November. The majority of the recordings are sound only; a small number of years are documented in moving images as well.

There is no recording of a reading in 2001. The New School Archives staff does not know if that year's reading was canceled, held elsewhere, or recorded and subsequently lost. The National Book Foundation did not answer an inquiry by Archives staff.

Although The New School's MFA in Creative Writing Program continued to co-sponsor the National Book Awards finalist readings until 2019, the absence of recordings beyond 2010 is likely indicative of a change in audiovisual recording technologies and formats, as consumers shifted from storing sound and video on removal media, such as tapes and discs, to cloud-based storage or the Internet.

Based on inscriptions, the finalist readings were held in The New School's Tishman Auditorium, located in the university's flagship building designed by Joseph Urban. Where inscriptions identify a moderator, Robert Polito, a faculty member and founder of The New School's MFA in Creative Writing Program serves in that role.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use. No access copies of the DAT, Hi8, or MiniDV recordings in the collection are currently available. Access to audio cassettes and VHS tapes may be available in The New School Archives reading room, depending upon the condition of the cassettes once they are evaluated by Archives staff. Researchers desiring remote access and willing to pay a digitization fee may do so upon consultation with The New School Archives. Please contact archivist@newschool.edu for appointment to listen to audio cassettes and compact discs and watch VHS tapes in the reading room or for more information about ordering digital files.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is held by each work's respective author. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the user.

Historical note

The National Book Awards finalist readings was an annual event hosted by The New School from 1998 until 2019 and co-sponsored by The New School's Writing Program and the National Book Foundation. The event, held on the night before the award ceremony itself, featured readings of excerpts from their nominated work by finalists for the National Book Awards, an American literary prize, in the categories of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and young people’s literature. After 2019, the event was moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and since resuming in-person in 2022, New York University has served as the host institution.

Sources

“Fall 1998 Special Programs at The New School”. New School Office of Communications, George Calderaro Records, NS.03.01.03: Box 1, Folder 22. The New School Archives and Special Collections. https://digital.archives.newschool.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/NS030103_000219

National Book Foundation. nationalbook.org. https://www.nationalbook.org/

National Book Foundation. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/@NationalBook

Arrangement

Arranged in chronological order by reading date.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Pam Tillis, director of public programs for The New School for Public Engagement, transferred the earliest recordings in the collection to The New School Archives upon the Archives's establishment in 2012. Archives staff added later readings with the accession of recordings directly from the Creative Writing Program in 2024.

Processing Information

New School Archives staff based all description in this finding aid on container inscriptions. Staff did not listen to the tapes or discs to verify content.

Title
Guide to the National Book Awards finalist readings event recordings
Status
In Process
Author
Jason Adamo, Jack Wells and Jenny Swadosh
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin