National Book Awards

National Book Award winners, from left, Phil Klay, fiction; Evan Osnos, non-fiction; Louise Gluck, poetry and Jacqueline Woodson, young people's literature, pose with their awards.

(The Associated Press/Robin Platzer)

Ursula K. Le Guin gave a scorching speech at the National Book Awards on Wednesday, calling out Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and saying of capitalism "its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings."

Le Guin received the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the lifetime achievement award from the National Book Foundation, and the 85-year-old Portland writer took the opportunity to talk to the black-tie audience at Cipriani, a swanky Manhattan restaurant, about some of her favorite themes: the importance of genre fiction in publishing and of art in society.

"We need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and production of art," Le Guin said. (See the full text of her speech here.)

The Los Angeles Times thought Le Guin "stole the show" and said she accepted and shared her award with "all the writers who were excluded from literature for so long." Her reference to Bezos and Amazon's recent pricing dispute with Hachette wasn't the only one of the evening but was one of the most pointed. Le Guin noted that "we just saw a profiteer trying to punish a publisher for disobedience."

The fiction award went to Phil Klay, a 31-year-old Iraq War veteran, for "Redeployment," a debut collection. Louise Gluck won in poetry for "Faithful and Virtuous Night." Evan Osnos won in nonfiction for "Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China." Jacqueline Woodson won in young people's literature for "Brown Girl Dreaming."

Phil Klay talked to The Oregonian about his book in a Q&A.

-- Jeff Baker