Bloomington poet Ross Gay has been awarded the 2020 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award in the Nonfiction category for The Book of Delights (2019), a collection of lyrical essays.
A New York Times bestseller, The Book of Delights explores the small, everyday sources of joy that are often overlooked in the face of adversity. Gay wrote the book over the course of one difficult year of his life.
“His is a meditation on delight that takes a clear-eyed view of the complexities, even the terrors, in his life, including living into America as a black man; the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture; the loss of those he loves,” wrote the book’s publisher, Algonquin Books.
As an award winner, Gay will receive a monetary award, a limestone award for display, and the opportunity to donate $500 to a library of his choice.
The Book of Delights is available for purchase online here, and at most bookstores.
