An ex-Vice President, two comedians and two Academy Award-winners lead the list of Spoken Word Album Grammy hopefuls. The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 8, in Los Angeles.
Best Spoken Word Nominees:
- An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore, read by Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon and Blair Underwood (Simon & Schuster Audio)
- Born Standing Up by Steve Martin (Simon & Schuster Audio)
- I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert (and Various Artists) (Hachette Audio)
- Life Beyond Measure by Sidney Poitier (HarperAudio)
- When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (Hachette Audio)
Sidney Poitier won a Best Spoken Word Album Grammy in 2000 for The Measure of a Man, his "spiritual autobiography," a follow-up to his first memoir, The Life. He fashioned Life Beyond Measure, his third memoir, as letters to his granddaughter imparting advice and inspirational stories.
Best Spoken Word Album For Children
- Around the Campfire: Cowboy Poetry and Other Nonsense by Buck Howdy With BB (Prairie Dog Entertainment)
- The Big One-Oh by Dean Pitchford (Random House Audio/Listening Library)
- Brown Bear and Friends (includes four books by Bill Martin, Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle), read by Gwyneth Paltrow (Macmillan Audio)
- The Cricket in Times Square, a Newbery Honor book by George Selden, illustrated by Garth Williams, read by Tony Shalhoub (Macmillan Audio)
- Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live by Bill Harley (Round River Records)
Bill Harley won a 2006 Grammy in the Best Spoken Word Album for Children for his work on Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates & Dogs.