CNN — As the National Book Awards came to a close on Wednesday, finalists for the prestigious literary prizes took the stage in New York to speak about the Israel-Hamas war, with others at the ceremony also choosing to address banned books. Aaliyah Bilal, who was nominated for the fiction award for her short story collection “Temple Folk,” read from a prepared statement as a group of fellow finalists stood around her. “On behalf of the finalists, we oppose the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and call for an humanitarian ceasefire to address the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, particularly...