I usually don't pay attention to this kind of thing, but I must say this year's National Book Award's choices were remarkable for their two decisions:

Nathaniel Mackey winning for his "Splay Anthem."
Adrienne Rich winning this year's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

From the Washington Post:

Adrienne Rich...drew a standing ovation as she wheeled her walker toward the lectern. Poetry, she said, has sometimes been accused of aestheticizing human suffering. And yet "if poetry had gone mute after every genocide in history," there wouldn't be much poetry in the world. It is the poet's job, she added, to give the lie to "that brute dictum: 'There is no alternative.' "