NEW YORK — If you’re a fan of “Hidden Figures” and Margot Lee Shetterly’s story of three black female mathematicians’ contributions to the space program, you should thank in part the efforts of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “We made a grant to Margot Lee Shetterly when she was unknown,” said Doron Weber, a vice-president and program director at the foundation and a winner this year of an honorary National Book Award. And the question after that was whether she had the chops to do it because she had never done a book before. She did, and she wrote a beautiful book.”On Tuesday, the National Book Foundation announced that Weber will be presented the Literarian Award during the National Books Award ceremony and benefit dinner on Nov. 14. “At the National Book Foundation, we believe that the scope of literature is expansive; that it can and should open up entirely new worlds to its readers,” Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation, said in a statement.

Source: National Post September 18, 2018 13:58 UTC