NEW YORK, Nov 21: The 75th National Book Award ceremony was held in New York City, one of the United States' most prestigious literary events, honoring a diverse group of writers for their contributions to contemporary literature. The event, organized by the US National Book Foundation on Wednesday evening, was attended by numerous cultural figures, including Kuwaiti novelist Buthaina Al-Essa, as well as several movie stars and musicians.

The awards were presented to American novelist Percival Everett for his novel James in the fiction category, Taiwanese author Yang Shuangzi for her book Travel Diaries to Taiwan in the translated literature category, and anthropologist Jason De Leon for his book Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in a Human Trafficking World in the nonfiction category. Additionally, Lina Taffaha, an American poet of Arab descent, was recognized for her poetry collection Something About Living, and American-Syrian author Shiva Safadi won the young adult literature award for her novel Cream in the Middle.

Kuwaiti novelist Buthaina Al-Essa was among the finalists for the translated literature category for her novel The Rooftop Guardian. Published by the American publishing house Restrained Books, the novel was translated into English by Suad Hussein and Rania Abdulrahman. The Rooftop Guardian was first published in 2019 and was recently included in Time magazine's list of "100 Books to Read in 2024."

The National Book Award, established in 1950, is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the United States. It honors literary excellence across several categories, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young adult literature.