Daily Show host Trevor Noah has won the 2017 Thurber Prize for American Humor, sponsored by Thurber House, for his memoir, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Spiegel & Grau). Noah received a $5,000 prize and a commemorative crystal plaque last night at an award ceremony at Carolines on Broadway in New York City. John Kenney, who won the Thurber Prize in 2014, hosted the event.
The judges called Born a Crime a coming-of-age story told "during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed."
Runners-up were Ken Pisani for Amp'd (St. Martin's Press) and Aaron Their for Mr. Eternity (Bloomsbury USA).
---
Longlists for the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction have been announced. Shortlists will be released October 25. Winning authors receive $5,000, with $1,500 going to each of the four remaining finalists. The two medal winners will be unveiled February 11 during the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Colo. See the complete longlists here.