UCLA’s Jason De León wins National Book Award for Nonfiction

UCLA professor Jason De León has won the 2024 National Book Award for Nonfiction for his book "Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling."

Drawing on seven years of on-the-ground ethnographic research and interviews, "Soldiers and Kings" gives voice and unprecedented context to the people, most of them young men, who make a precarious living smuggling migrants from Central America and Mexico into the United States.

The award was presented Wednesday, Nov. 20, at a ceremony in a New York City that also honored winners in fiction, poetry, translated literature and literature for young readers. De León is the second Bruin honoree in the past two years, following Justin Torres, who won the fiction award last year.

"This book was a janky little anthropological project about a bunch of banged-up and beaten-down people who refused to give up hope," De León said in his acceptance speech. "And it all started with this kid who said to me, 'How come no one listens to us?'"

De León followed that kid, Roberto, and several other smugglers, shining a light on the complexity of undocumented immigration, as well as the realities and conditions that drive the mass movement of undocumented immigrants. "Soldiers and Kings" presents the first ever in-depth, character-driven look at human smuggling through the real journeys and work of informants, gang leaders and guides.

A UCLA alumnus and professor of anthropology and Chicana/o and Central American studies who directs the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, De León is the author of the 2015 book "The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail" and the recipient of a 2017 MacArthur "genius" grant. He is also the founder and director of the Undocumented Migration Project, which studies the experiences of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Southern Arizona.

In accepting his award, De León got a surprise hug from the host, actor and comedian Kate McKinnon, which he said would win him countless points with his children, Iggy and Lorenzo, who are big fans. Wrapping up his speech, he referenced his kids and how their love of reading and learning inspires him to always maintain hope in the world.

"My kids have a band called the War Pigs - I play bass in it … but they're about to kick me out once they find someone who can play bass," he joked. "But to quote them, they would say, 'You know what? We need to go read some damn books.' So let's all go read some damn books. We're going to need them in the future and in these tough times ahead."

Newsroom spoke to De León about his award.

What does it mean to you to win a National Book Award?

I'mnot even totally convinced that I won. I got up this morning and asked my kids, "That really happened, right?" Even making the longlist felt like a big win because oftentimes nobody cares about Honduras and the other players in this whole migration story. The fact that people are paying attention to the story is really very humbling. Also, a big part of this book is about this kid, Roberto, who was a smuggler who gets killed doing field work. He was someone who wasn't supposed to count, someone that people didn't want to listen to. And so the fact that people are listening to his story now is huge and beautiful.

I've always believed that everybody has an interesting, amazing story, and we just have to listen. This book was written about people who deserve to be heard, and I'm grateful that they trusted me to tell this story.

What do you want the takeaway to be for readers?

Migration is a very complex issue, way more complicated than the nonsense being offered up by the Trump administration about border walls. All of us as Americans are implicated in this migration story. I hope people will walk away from this knowing more about the issues and having more complex questions about how we're going to solve this problem. Social science research should inform people, engage them, challenge them. As we move forward, the simplistic things being offered by the incoming administration are not going to work. I'm hoping we can move into the future with a better understanding about what the world is actually like.

How did writing "Soldiers and Kings" change you personally?

This book taught me about a great many things, including what it means to have to make difficult decisions about how to be in the world. As I was saying last night, this book sent me back to therapy after 30 years of not wanting to be there. It changed me in fundamental ways, and I think it made me a better person. And I'm very grateful for the process. You know, I never thought that writing a book about smugglers would teach me about empathy or about how to how to better love myself, but those are two things that I got from this whole process on.

What did you mean to you to wear Laker-themed shoes to the award ceremony?

I wanted to wear a Dodgers hat, but I was told that might hit a little too close to home (in New York) after the World Series. I love Los Angeles and UCLA. I am so grateful to be at UCLA after being gone for so many years. I wrote a little bit about this in the book, but I could have been one of those guys in this book if I hadn't found my place in the world at UCLA, so it means a lot to me. I taught the day after the election, and there was no other place I wanted to be than on campus to talk to students and help them process all the things that are happening right now.

Your own path to and through higher education was nontraditional, and you've spoken about being the long-haired punk kid who never thought he would fit in the world of academia. How does it feel to look back at your journey?

I hope I set an example for folks that there's not one way to be a professor, to get to this place, to be in academia, to do these things. I've always really tried hard to show students that they belong - you don't need a certain pedigree and you don't need to lose sight of who you are as a person. The punk rock ethos and all those things make me who I am, informed the book and inform who I am as a teacher and as a scholar. It's been a real trip. But honestly, I'm most excited to get back on campus and talk to students about how we have to be hopeful about the world.

Tags: faculty news | awards and honors | books | literature | diversity | race and ethnicity | immigration | anthropology