Books & Books founder Mitchell Kaplan shares national anti-censorship award with Stephen Colbert
By WLRN News Staff
July 31, 2026 at 1:52 PM EDT
Mitchell Kaplan, founder of the independent bookstore, Books & Books in Coral Gables, was named co-winner of the anti-censorship award by a national foundation established by the author-playwright-publisher Ishmael Reed.
Kaplan shares the award with Stephen Colbert, former host of CBS' "The Late Show."
" To be at all in the same sentence with Stephen Colbert was an extremely humbling feeling," Kaplan told WLRN about when he found out.
Kaplan and Colbert were among the recipients of the 47th annual American Book Awards. They were announced Wednesday by the Before Columbus Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, that champions diversity in U.S. literature and culture.
CBS ended Colbert’s program in May, removing a high-profile platform for one of Trump’s most prominent critics. The network cited economic reasons for its decision. Colbert and others have questioned that explanation.
" I recognize that booksellers all across this country have been fighting the good fight against censorship for many, many, many years," Kaplan said. "In accepting this award, I stand with all of them as well, as one bookseller who in essence is doing something that booksellers everywhere need to do, unfortunately, right now."
READ MORE: A different party scene: How Books & Books is building community through silent reading
The foundation also honored a wide range of literary releases, from Nicholas Boggs’ Baldwin, a biography of James Baldwin; to John Fugelsang’s religious critique Separation of Church and Hate to the poetry collection Variations in Blue, by Adela Najarro. Novelist-playwright Karen Tei Yamashita received a lifetime achievement prize.
“The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community,” the foundation’s announcement reads in part. “The award winners range from well-known and established writers to under-recognized authors and first works. There are no quotas for diversity; the winners list simply reflects it as a natural process.”
The 2026 honorees will be formally recognized during a ceremony scheduled for Sept. 26, at 1:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Alumni House on the UC Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California.
Kaplan said that Books & Books will celebrate the award and what it represents here is South Florida during Banned Books Week in October.
Kaplan shares the award with Stephen Colbert, former host of CBS' "The Late Show."
" To be at all in the same sentence with Stephen Colbert was an extremely humbling feeling," Kaplan told WLRN about when he found out.
Kaplan and Colbert were among the recipients of the 47th annual American Book Awards. They were announced Wednesday by the Before Columbus Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, that champions diversity in U.S. literature and culture.
CBS ended Colbert’s program in May, removing a high-profile platform for one of Trump’s most prominent critics. The network cited economic reasons for its decision. Colbert and others have questioned that explanation.
" I recognize that booksellers all across this country have been fighting the good fight against censorship for many, many, many years," Kaplan said. "In accepting this award, I stand with all of them as well, as one bookseller who in essence is doing something that booksellers everywhere need to do, unfortunately, right now."
READ MORE: A different party scene: How Books & Books is building community through silent reading
The foundation also honored a wide range of literary releases, from Nicholas Boggs’ Baldwin, a biography of James Baldwin; to John Fugelsang’s religious critique Separation of Church and Hate to the poetry collection Variations in Blue, by Adela Najarro. Novelist-playwright Karen Tei Yamashita received a lifetime achievement prize.
“The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community,” the foundation’s announcement reads in part. “The award winners range from well-known and established writers to under-recognized authors and first works. There are no quotas for diversity; the winners list simply reflects it as a natural process.”
The 2026 honorees will be formally recognized during a ceremony scheduled for Sept. 26, at 1:30 p.m. The event will take place at the Alumni House on the UC Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California.
Kaplan said that Books & Books will celebrate the award and what it represents here is South Florida during Banned Books Week in October.