Jesmyn Ward won her second National Book Award for Fiction on Wednesday evening for her novel "Sing, Unburied, Sing," and poet Frank Bidart won his second award for poetry for "Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016." Ward previously won in 2011 for "Salvage the Bones," and Bidart in 2013 for "Metaphysical Dog."

Minnesota was well-represented at the awards, with four books on the shortlist, three published by Graywolf Press and one by Carolrhoda Lab/Lerner Publishing. Minneapolis poet Danez Smith was a finalist in poetry for his second book, "Don't Call Us Dead." And Lesley Nneka Arimah of the Twin Cities was honored as one of the National Book Foundation's Five Under 35.

The award for Young People's Literature went to Robin Benway for "Far from the Tree," and Masha Gessen won in nonfiction for "The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia."

Gessen said she never had expected a book about Russia to be considered, but noted, "times have changed."

Lifetime achievement awards were given to Annie Proulx, author of "The Shipping News" and "Barkskins," and Richard Robinson, president and chief executive of Scholastic Books.

Said Proulx, "I didn't start writing until I was 58. So if you've been thinking about it and putting it off, go ahead." (Though this comment got happy applause, it is not strictly true. "Postcards," her first novel, was published in 1992 when she was 57.)

The evening's emcee was actress Cynthia Nixon, a self-described "huge nerd." Books, she said, are "the most powerful weapons we have" in an increasingly difficult world. "They cultivate empathy. They inspire action. They make us feel less alone."

LAURIE HERTZEL