The 50th National Book Critics Circle Awards winners are here.
The National Book Critics Circle announced the recipients during their annual awards ceremony, held on Thursday, March 20, at the New School in New York City. Founded in 1974, the NBCC is made up of over 800 editors and critics nationwide, and recognizes the best books published in the United States in the past year, per a statement shared with PEOPLE.
The prestigious literary award honors books across genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry and translation, as well as literary achievement and service. In 2024, the NBCC announced its longlists publicly for the first time, in honor of their 50th anniversary.
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“Never has there been a more urgent need for criticism, for free speech, for writing that questions, talks back to and interprets other writing…. The NBCC affirms the right of every person to see themselves reflected in books,” NBCC President Heather Scott Patrington said during the ceremony. “As the NBCC moves into our next chapter, we stand with the organizations fighting to protect our rights to write and read.”
See the full list of winners below:
Fiction: My Friends by Hisham Matar
Nonfiction: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
Biography: Candy Darling: Dreamer, Icon, Superstar by Cynthia Carr
Autobiography: Patriot: A Memoir by Alexei Navalny, translated from the Russian by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel
Criticism: There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
Poetry: Wrong Norma by Anne Carson
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Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize: A Last Supper of Queer Apostles by Pedro Lemebel, translated from the Spanish by Gwendolyn Harper
John Leonard Prize: Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls
NBCC Service Award: Lori Lynn Turner
Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing: Lauren Michele Jackson
Toni Morrison Achievement Award: Third World Press
Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award: Sandra Cisneros
Distinguished Guest Speaking in Honor of the NBCC’s 50th Anniversary: Maxine Hong Kingston
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