The National Book Award ceremony took a political turn on Wednesday night, as the event concluded with a joint statement from a group of finalists who called for a cease-fire in Gaza.

After Justin Torres, who won in the fiction category for his novel “Blackouts,” accepted his award, the stage filled with more than a dozen other nominees from different categories. They stood behind Aaliyah Bilal, a finalist in the fiction category for her short story collection “Temple Folk,” as she read the statement.

“On behalf of the finalists, we oppose the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and call for a humanitarian cease-fire to address the urgent humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians, particularly children,” Bilal said. “We oppose antisemitism and anti-Palestinian sentiment and Islamophobia equally, accepting the human dignity of all parties, knowing that further bloodshed does nothing to secure lasting peace in the region. ”

While the conflict in the Middle East was referenced repeatedly over the evening, most of the ceremony focused on literary issues, like the power of literature to broaden perspectives, and the dangers of censorship and the threat of growing book bans.