National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction

The National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, established in 1976,[1] is an annual American literary award presented by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English."[2]

Books previously published in English are not eligible, such as re-issues and paperback editions. They do consider "translations, short story and essay collections, self published books, and any titles that fall under the general categories."[3]

The judges are the volunteer directors of the NBCC who are 24 members serving rotating three-year terms, with eight elected annually by the voting members, namely "professional book review editors and book reviewers."[4] Winners of the awards are announced each year at the NBCC awards ceremony in conjunction with the yearly membership meeting, which takes place in March.[3]

Recipients edit

National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction winners and finalists
Year Author Title Result Ref.
1975

E. L. Doctorow

Ragtime

Winner

[5]
1976

John Gardner

October Light

Winner

[6]
Cynthia Ozick Bloodshed and Three Novellas Finalist [6]
Vladimir Nabokov Details of a Sunset and Other Stories
Renata Adler Speedboat
Richard Yates The Easter Parade
1977

Toni Morrison

Song of Solomon

Winner

[7]
Joan Didion A Book of Common Prayer Finalist [7]
John Cheever Falconer
Philip Roth The Professor of Desire
John Sayles Union Dues
1978

John Cheever

The Stories of John Cheever

Winner

[8]
Mary Gordon Final Payments Finalist [8]
John Updike The Coup
John Irving The World According to Garp
Charles Simmons Wrinkles
1979

Thomas Flanagan

The Year of the French

Winner

[9]
Leslie Epstein King of the Jews: A Novel of the Holocaust Finalist [9]
Elizabeth Hardwick Sleepless Nights
William Styron Sophie's Choice
Norman Mailer The Executioner's Song: A True Life Novel
Philip Roth The Ghost Writer
1980

Shirley Hazzard

The Transit of Venus

Winner

[10]
E. L. Doctorow Loon Lake Finalist [10]
Anne Tyler Morgan's Passing
William Maxwell So Long, See You Tomorrow
Walker Percy The Second Coming
1981

John Updike

Rabbit Is Rich

Winner

[11]
Robert Stone A Flag for Sunrise Finalist [11]
Russell Hoban Riddley Walker
Donald Barthelme Sixty Stories
Leonard Michaels The Men's Club
1982

Stanley Elkin

George Mills

Winner

[12]
Anne Tyler Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Finalist [12]
Cynthia Ozick Levitation: Five Fictions
Bobbie Ann Mason Shiloh and Other Stories
Alice Walker The Color Purple
1983

William Kennedy

Ironweed

Winner

[13]
Raymond Carver Cathedral Finalist [13]
Joan Chase During the Reign of the Queen of Persia
Ron Loewinsohn Magnetic Field (s)
Philip Roth The Anatomy Lesson
1984

Louise Erdrich

Love Medicine

Winner

[14]
David Leavitt Family Dancing Finalist [14]
Alison Lurie Foreign Affairs
Jayne Anne Phillips Machine Dreams
Harriet Doerr Stones for Ibarra
1985

Anne Tyler

The Accidental Tourist

Winner

[15]
Larry McMurtry Lonesome Dove Finalist [15]
Peter Taylor The Old Forest and Other Stories
Richard Powers Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance
Don DeLillo White Noise
1986

Reynolds Price

Kate Vaiden

Winner

[16]
Peter Taylor A Summons to Memphis Finalist [16]
John Updike Roger's Version
Louise Erdrich The Beet Queen
Thomas Williams The Moon Pinnacle
1987

Philip Roth

The Counterlife

Winner

[17]
Toni Morrison Beloved Finalist [17]
Wallace Stegner Crossing to Safety
Jane Smiley The Age of Grief
Tom Wolfe The Bonfire of the Vanities
1988

Bharati Mukherjee

The Middleman and Other Stories

Winner

[18]
Don DeLillo Libra Finalist [18]
Pete Dexter Paris Trout
J. F. Powers Wheat That Springeth Green
Raymond Carver Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories
1989

E. L. Doctorow

Billy Bathgate

Winner

[19]
Jane Smiley Ordinary Love & Good Will Finalist [19]
John Casey Spartina
Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club
Oscar Hijuelos The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
1990

John Updike

Rabbit at Rest

Winner

[20]
Wallace Stegner Collected Stories Finalist [20]
Sue Miller Family Pictures
Charles Johnson Middle Passage
Tim O’Brien The Things They Carried
1991

Jane Smiley

A Thousand Acres

Winner

[21]
Norman Rush Mating Finalist [21]
Richard Powers The Gold Bug Variations
Gish Jen Typical American
Louis Begley Wartime Lies
1992

Cormac McCarthy

All the Pretty Horses

Winner

[22]
Joyce Carol Oates Black Water Finalist [22]
Richard Price Clockers
Randall Kenan Let the Dead Bury Their Dead
Robert Stone Outerbridge Reach
1993

Ernest J. Gaines

A Lesson Before Dying

Winner

[23]
Bobbie Ann Mason Feather Crowns Finalist [23]
Rikki Ducornet The Jade Cabinet
E. Annie Proulx The Shipping News
Frances Sherwood Vindication
1994

Carol Shields

The Stone Diaries

Winner

[24]
William Gaddis A Frolic of His Own Finalist [24]
Julius Lester And All Our Wounds Forgiven
Julia Alvarez In the Time of the Butterflies
Alan Isler The Prince of West End Avenue
1995

Stanley Elkin

Mrs. Ted Bliss

Winner

[25]
Richard Powers Galatea 2.2 Finalist [25]
Richard Ford Independence Day
Jane Smiley Moo
Paul West The Tent of Orange Mist
1996

Gina Berriault

Women in Their Beds

Winner

[26]
Louis Begley About Schmidt Finalist [26]
Andre Dubus Dancing After Hours
Henry Roth From Bondage
Jamaica Kincaid The Autobiography of My Mother
1997

Penelope Fitzgerald

The Blue Flower

Winner

[27]
Philip Roth American Pastoral Finalist [27]
Charles Frazier Cold Mountain
Andrei Makine Dreams of My Russian Summers
Don DeLillo Underworld
1998

Alice Munro

The Love of a Good Woman

Winner

[28]
Lorrie Moore Birds of America Finalist [28]
Lynne Tillman No Lease on Life
David Gates Preston Falls
Michael Cunningham The Hours
1999

Jonathan Lethem

Motherless Brooklyn

Winner

[29]
J. M. Coetzee Disgrace Finalist [29]
A. Manette Ansay Midnight Champagne
Frederick Busch The Night Inspector
David Gates The Wonders of the Invisible World
2000

Jim Crace

Being Dead

Winner

[30]
Amy Bloom A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You Finalist [30]
David Means Assorted Fire Events
Michael Chabon The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Zadie Smith White Teeth
2001

W.G. Sebald with Anthea Bell (trans.)

Austerlitz

Winner

[31]
2002

Ian McEwan

Atonement

Winner

2003

Edward P. Jones

The Known World

Winner

2004

Marilynne Robinson

Gilead

Winner

2005

E. L. Doctorow

The March

Winner

2006

Kiran Desai

The Inheritance of Loss

Winner

2007

Junot Diaz

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Winner

[32][33][34]

Hisham Matar

In the Country of Men

Finalist

[33]

Joyce Carol Oates

The Gravedigger's Daughter

Marianne Wiggins

The Shadow Catcher

Vikram Chandra

Sacred Games

2008

Roberto Bolaño with Natasha Wimmer (trans.)

2666

Winner

[35][36]

Aleksandar Hemon

The Lazarus Project

Finalist

[37][35]

Elizabeth Strout

Olive Kitteridge

M. Glenn Taylor

The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart

Marilynne Robinson

Home

2009

Hilary Mantel

Wolf Hall

Winner

[38][39][40]

Bonnie Jo Campbell

American Salvage

Finalist

[38]

Jayne Anne Phillips

Lark and Termite

Marlon James

The Book of Night Women

Michelle Huneven

Blame

2010

Jennifer Egan

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Winner

[41][42]

David Grossman

To The End of the Land

Finalist

[41]

Hans Keilson

Comedy in a Minor Key

Jonathan Franzen

Freedom

Paul Murray

Skippy Dies

2011

Edith Pearlman

Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories

Winner

[43][44]

Alan Hollinghurst

The Stranger's Child

Finalist

[43][44][45]

Dana Spiotta

Stone Arabia

Jeffrey Eugenides

The Marriage Plot

Teju Cole

Open City

2012

Ben Fountain

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Winner

[46][47]

Adam Johnson

The Orphan Master's Son

Finalist

[46][48][49]

Laurent Binet with Sam Taylor (trans.)

HHhH

Lydia Millet

Magnificence

Zadie Smith

NW

2013

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah

Winner

[50][51]

Alice McDermott

Someone

Finalist

[50][52]

Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch

Javier Marías with Margaret Jull Costa (trans.)

The Infatuations

Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being

2014

Marilynne Robinson

Lila

Winner

[53][54]

Chang-rae Lee

On Such a Full Sea

Finalist

[53][55]

Lily King

Euphoria

Marlon James

A Brief History of Seven Killings

Rabih Alameddine

An Unnecessary Woman

2015

Paul Beatty

The Sellout

Winner

[56]

Anthony Marra

The Tsar of Love and Techno

Finalist

[56]

Lauren Groff

Fates and Furies

Ottessa Moshfegh

Eileen

Valeria Luiselli

The Story of My Teeth

2016

Louise Erdrich

LaRose

Winner

[57][58]

Adam Haslett

Imagine Me Gone

Finalist

[57]

Ann Patchett

Commonwealth

Michael Chabon

Moonglow: A Novel

Zadie Smith

Swing Time

2017

Joan Silber

Improvement

Winner

[59][60][61][62]

Alice McDermott

The Ninth Hour

Finalist

[59][58]

Arundhati Roy

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

Jesmyn Ward

Sing, Unburied, Sing

Mohsin Hamid

Exit West

2018

Anna Burns

Milkman

Winner

[63][64][65][66]

Denis Johnson

The Largesse of the Sea Maiden

Finalist

[63]

Luis Alberto Urrea

The House of Broken Angels

Patrick Chamoiseau with Linda Coverdale (trans.)

Slave Old Man

Rachel Kushner

The Mars Room

2019

Edwidge Danticat

Everything Inside

Winner

[67][68]

Ben Lerner

The Topeka School

Finalist

[67]

Colson Whitehead

The Nickel Boys

Myla Goldberg

Feast Your Eyes

Valeria Luiselli

Lost Children Archive

2020

Maggie O'Farrell

Hamnet

Winner

[69][70][71]

Bryan Washington

Memorial

Finalist

[70]

Martin Amis

Inside Story

Randall Kenan

If I Had Two Wings

Souvankham Thammavongsa

How to Pronounce Knife

2021

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

Winner [72]

Colson Whitehead

Harlem Shuffle

Finalist

[73][74][75]

Joshua Cohen

The Netanyahus

Rachel Cusk

Second Place

Sarah Hall

Burntcoat

2022 Ling Ma Bliss Montage Winner [76]
Percival Everett Dr. No Finalist [77]
Jon Fosse with Damion Searls (trans.) A New Name
Mieko Kawakami with Sam Bett and David Boyd (trans.) All the Lovers in the Night
Namwali Serpell The Furrows

References edit

  1. ^ The National Book Critics Circle Journal 2:1, Spring 1976 Archived May 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, NBCC. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  2. ^ "How We Pick Our Awards". National Book Critics Circle. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  3. ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  4. ^ "Membership". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  5. ^ "1975 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  6. ^ a b "1976 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  7. ^ a b "1977 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  8. ^ a b "1978 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  9. ^ a b "1979 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  10. ^ a b "1980 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  11. ^ a b "1981 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  12. ^ a b "1982 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  13. ^ a b "1983 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  14. ^ a b "1984 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  15. ^ a b "1985 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  16. ^ a b "1986 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  17. ^ a b "1987 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  18. ^ a b "1988 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  19. ^ a b "1989 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  20. ^ a b "1990 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  21. ^ a b "1991 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  22. ^ a b "1992 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  23. ^ a b "1993 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  24. ^ a b "1994 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  25. ^ a b "1995 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  26. ^ a b "1996 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  27. ^ a b "1997 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  28. ^ a b "1998 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  29. ^ a b "1999 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  30. ^ a b "2000 National Book Critics Circle Award - Fiction Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  31. ^ Marshall, Alex (19 October 2018). "Anthea Bell, Translator of Freud, Kafka and Comics, Dies at 82". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2023. [Bell] translated hundreds of books — she did not know the exact number — including W. G. Sebald's "Austerlitz," a dreamlike meditation on memory and the Holocaust that won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2012.
  32. ^ "National Book Critics Circle Announces 2007 Award Winners". the American Booksellers Association. 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  33. ^ a b "2007 NBCC Winners Announced". National Book Critics Circle. 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  34. ^ Rich, Motoko (2008-03-07). "National Book Critics Circle Awards". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  35. ^ a b "2008". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  36. ^ "Natasha Wimmer: Visiting Faculty". Princeton University. Archived from the original on 17 June 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2023. Natasha Wimmer has translated six books by Roberto Bolano, including 2666 (winner of the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction) and The Savage Detectives.
  37. ^ Magee, C. Max (2009-01-25). "2008 National Book Critics Circle Finalists Announced". The Millions. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  38. ^ a b "2009". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  39. ^ "2009 National Book Critics Circle Awards Ceremony". C-SPAN. 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  40. ^ Reid, Calvin (2010-03-12). "Mantel, Holmes, Biss Among 2009 National Book Critics Circle Winners". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  41. ^ a b "2010". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  42. ^ Magee, C. Max (2011-03-11). "2010 National Book Critics Circle Award Winners Announced". The Millions. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  43. ^ a b "2011". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  44. ^ a b "The National Book Critics Circle Awards 2011". Book Reporter. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  45. ^ Magee, C. Max (2011-10-12). "2011 National Book Award Finalists Announced". The Millions. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  46. ^ a b "2012". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  47. ^ Habash, Gabe (2013-02-28). "2012 National Book Critics Circle Awards Go to 'Billy Lynn,' Solomon, Caro". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  48. ^ "National Book Critics Awards Shortlist Announced". HuffPost. 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  49. ^ "2012 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalists Announced". The Millions. 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  50. ^ a b "2013". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  51. ^ Magee, C. Max (2014-03-13). "2013 National Book Critics Circle Award Winners Announced". The Millions. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  52. ^ "2013 National Book Critics Circle Award Finalists Announced". The Millions. 2014-01-14. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  53. ^ a b "2014". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  54. ^ Schaub, Michael. "2014 National Book Critics Circle Award winners announced". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  55. ^ Schaub, Michael (2015-01-19). "National Book Critics Circle announces 2014 awards finalists". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  56. ^ a b "2015". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  57. ^ a b "2016". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  58. ^ a b Canfield, David (2018-01-22). "Roxane Gay, Masha Gessen among 2017 National Book Critics Circle finalists". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  59. ^ a b "2017". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
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  61. ^ Temple, Emily (2018-01-22). "Here are the Finalists for the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Awards". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  62. ^ Colyard, K. W. (2018-03-16). "The National Book Critics Circle Award Winners For 2017 Are All Women & You'll Want To Read All Their Books". Bustle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  63. ^ a b "2018". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  64. ^ Squires, Bethy (2019-03-14). "National Book Critics Circle Winners Include New York's Christopher Bonanos". Vulture. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  65. ^ van Koeverden, Jane (2019-03-15). "Anna Burns, Zadie Smith among 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award winners". CBC Books. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  66. ^ "Congratulations to the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award Winners". Book Marks. 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  67. ^ a b "2019". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  68. ^ Reiter, Amy (2020-03-13). "National Book Critics Circle Announces 2019 Awards". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  69. ^ Beer, Tom (2021-03-25). "National Book Critics Circle Presents Awards". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  70. ^ a b "2020". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  71. ^ "National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction Winners". Powell's Books. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  72. ^ Beer, Tom (2022-03-17). "NBCC Award Winners Revealed at Virtual Ceremony". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  73. ^ Bancroft, Colette (2022-01-21). "National Book Critics Circle announces awards finalists". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  74. ^ Beer, Tom (2022-01-20). "Finalists for the 2022 NBCC Awards Are Announced". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  75. ^ "2021 National Book Critics Circle Awards". Locus Online. 2022-01-21. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  76. ^ Varno, David (March 23, 2023). "Announcing the 2022 NBCC Award Winners". bookcritics.org. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  77. ^ Labrise, Megan (January 31, 2023). "NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR PUBLISHING YEAR 2022". bookcritics.org. Retrieved May 8, 2023.

External links edit