Michelle Williams' Audio Version of Britney Spears' Memoir Earns Audie Award Nomination (Exclusive)
Williams, along with Bono, Michelle Obama, Ethan Hawke and Meryl Streep are among the nominees for the 2024 Audie Awards, recognizing the best in spoken-word entertainment.
Awards show season is in full swing. We have celebrated the Emmys, Golden Globes, Critics Choice and the Oscar nominations have been announced. The race for best actress this year is tough. But today, among the finalists for the 2024 Audies — honoring the best in spoken-word entertainment, including audio books — comes a nomination for one acclaimed performer who last year turned in what many called "the performance of a lifetime."
Michelle Williams narrated the audio version of Britney Spears' memoir, The Woman in Me. And, in doing so, added a Hollywood lift to what was already one of the hottest books of the year. (It's now a New York Times bestseller and sold more than 1 million copies in the first week of its release.)
"This book has been a labor of love and all the emotions that come with it,” Spears said in a statement shared with PEOPLE in October. “Reliving everything has been exciting, heart-wrenching, and emotional, to say the least. For those reasons, I will only be reading a small part of my audiobook. I am so grateful to the amazing Michelle Williams for reading the rest of it."
Williams' delivery went viral when the audiobook came out, with fans joking about her giving an "Oscar-worthy" performance, according to Entertainment Weekly. Other popular segments included her take on Mariah Carey and Spears' no-nonsense description of Jamie Lynn, her younger sister.
The Audie winners will be announced in a ceremony in Los Angeles on March 4. This year's nominees include many A-list actors: Lake Bell, Tom Hanks, Alfre Woodard, Patrick Stewart, Felecia Day, Neil Gaiman, Sean Astin, Rosamund Pike, Andrew Rannells, Daisey Ridley, Rita Wilson, Natalie Morales, Ego Nwodim, Daniel Kaluuya, Beau Bridges and Neil Patrick Harris are all nominated.
Sean McManus, president of the Audio Publishers Association, tells PEOPLE exclusively, "Last year, we witnessed the art of human narration through outstanding and diverse audiobook productions, showcasing the talents of Oscar winners like Meryl Streep, profound storytelling from public figures such as Michelle Obama and the literary brilliance of Neil Gaiman. We’re also excited to announce our inaugural APA Choice recognition, a new honor celebrating some of the year's most compelling titles that became cultural phenomenons, including the The Woman in Me from Britney Spears."
He adds that in a change reflecting the APA’s commitment to inclusivity and diversity, the Best Male Narrator and Best Female Narrator categories — two of the top awards that recognize the importance of performance in audio storytelling — have been transformed to Best Fiction Narrator and Best Non-Fiction Narrator.
The list of finalists for the 2024 Audie Awards are below.
AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR
All the Sinners Bleed
By S.A. Cosby
Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White
Published by Macmillan Audio
Inside Voice: My Obsession with How We Sound
Written and narrated by Lake Bell
Published by Pushkin Industries
Sing a Black Girl's Song
By Ntozake Shange, edited by Imani Perry, foreword by Tarana Burke
Narrated by Alfre Woodard, D. Woods, Regina Taylor, Lynn Whitfield, Okwui Okpokwasili, Ifa Bayeza, Imani Perry, Robin Miles, Tarana Burke, and Savannah Shange
Published by Hachette Audio
Surrender
Written and narrated by Bono
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Tom Lake
By Ann Patchett
Narrated by Meryl Streep
Published by HarperAudio
AUDIO DRAMA
None of This Is True
By Lisa Jewell
Performed by Nicola Walker and Louise Brealey with a full cast including Kristin Atherton, Ayesha Antoine, Alix Dunmore, Elliot Fitzpatrick, Lisa Jewell, Thomas Judd, Dominic Thorburn, and Jenny Walser
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia
By Josh Azouz
Performed by Laila Ayad, Tara Lynne Barr, Patrick Heusinger, Daniel David Stewart, Simon Templeman, and Pej Vahdat
Published by L.A. Theatre Works
Rising
By Pierce Brown
Performed by Stewart Crank, John Kielty, Richard Rohan, Stephanie Nemeth-Parker, Jenna Sharpe, Kay Eluvian, Jon Vertullo, Ian Russell, Alejandro Ruiz, Andrew Colford, Bradley Foster Smith, and a full cast
Published by Graphic Audio
Star Wars: The Battle of Jedha (The High Republic)
By George Mann
Performed by Raphael Corkhill, Kristen Sieh, Christian Barillas, Jonathan Davis, Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes, James Fouhey, Neil Hellegers, Philip Hernandez, Catherine Ho, David Lee Huynh, Sullivan Jones, January LaVoy, Saskia Maarleveld, Kathleen McInerney, Brandon McInnis, Cassandra Morris, John Pirkis, Salli Saffioti, Marc Thompson, and Shannon Tyo
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Third Eye
By Felicia Day
Performed by Felicia Day, Neil Gaiman, Sean Astin, Lily Pichu, London Hughes, Wil Wheaton, Hudson Yang, Danny Pudi, Alan Tudyk, and Christopher Judge
Published by Audible Originals
AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
Behind the Seams
Written and narrated by Dolly Parton, Holly George-Warren, and Rebecca Seaver
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
La Finca: Love, Loss, and Laundry on a Tiny Puerto Rican Island
Written and narrated by Corky Parker
Published by Lantern Audio
Making It So
Written and narrated by Patrick Stewart
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
A Place for Us
Written and narrated by Brandon J. Wolf
Published by Brilliance Publishing
Saved
Written and narrated by Benjamin Hall
Published by HarperAudio
BEST FICTION NARRATOR
Billie Fulford-Brown for The Last Lifeboat
By Hazel Gaynor
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Ethan Hawke for The Eyes and the Impossible
By Dave Eggers
Published by Listening Library
Marni Penning for Johanna Porter Is Not Sorry
By Sara Read
Published by Harlequin Audio
Meryl Streep for Tom Lake
By Ann Patchett
Published by HarperAudio
Eunice Wong for Land of Milk and Honey
By C Pam Zhang
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
BEST NON-FICTION NARRATOR
Edoardo Ballerini for The Art Thief
By Michael Finkel
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Dion Graham for King: A Life
By Jonathan Eig
Published by Macmillan Audio
Dion Graham for The Lost Sons of Omaha
By Joe Sexton
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
Dion Graham for The Wager
By David Grann
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Michelle Williams for The Woman in Me
By Britney Spears
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.