The National Book Critics Circle has announced 30 finalists in six categories––autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry––for the annual National Book Critic Circle Awards.

The honorees of three additional prizes have also been announced. The recipient of the $1,000 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, recognizing outstanding work by a member of the NBCC, is the New Yorker's Katy Waldman. The recipient of the Ivan Sandrof Award for Lifetime Achievement, given to a person or institution who has made significant contributions to book culture, is poet, novelist, and songwriter Naomi Shihab Nye. The 2019 John Leonard Prize for Best First Book, which is selected by the organization’s membership, goes to Sarah M. Broom for The Yellow House: A Memoir (Grove).

The NBCC awards will be presented March 12 at the New School in New York City. The ceremony is free and open to the public. A reading by the finalists will take place the evening before the awards, on March 11, also for free at the New School.

The NBCC also hosts a fundraising reception following the March 12 awards ceremony. The tickets, $60 for NBCC members when purchased in advance and $85 to the general public, benefit the NBCC, the awards, and the work that the NBCC does year round to promote books, critics, and writers nationwide.

The finalists are as follows:

Autobiography

Biography

Criticism

Fiction

Nonfiction

Poetry