Daniel Handler to Host the National Book Awards Ceremony

Posted on June 26, 2014

Author Daniel Handler will be the host of the 65th National Book Awards Ceremony in New York on November 19th. Handler, who burst upon the children's literary scene under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket as the author of the mega bestselling A Series of Unfortunate Events series has continued to amaze and entertain children with his books. Handler is also a bestselling novelist under his real name with books such as The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, Adverbs, and Why We Broke Up which won the Michael J. Printz Award. His next book is We Are Pirates.

Harold Augenbraum, the executive director of the National Book Foundation said, "Daniel Handler is witty, charming, and one of the best writers in America. We are looking forward to a wonderful National Book Awards evening this year with him as host."

Handler will be the first author of both adult and children's books to host the event. Handler himself said in a statement that when he got the call from Augenbraum, he thought he had won an award. But, alas, Augenbraum replied, "Um, guess again." "But seriously," Handler continued, "I can't wait to be in a room where everyone knows who Lydia Davis is." [Lydia Davis won the Man Booker International Prize in 2013.]