The National Book Awards (NBA) are annual literary awards given in the United States. Each November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors at the final ceremony. The awards were first created in 1936 by the American Booksellers Association. They were stopped during World War II and restarted in 1950 by three book industry groups. Before the war, books by non-U.S. authors and publishers could be entered. Since then, the awards have been given only to American authors for books published in the United States during the award year.
The National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization, was formed in 1988 to manage and improve the National Book Awards. It also works to expand the awards’ reach into education and literacy by supporting public events with writers. The foundation’s mission is to celebrate the best American literature, grow its audience, and make books an important part of American culture.
In 2018, 1,637 books were nominated for the five award categories. The Nonfiction category had the most nominations, with 546 entries. The 2018 ceremony took place on November 14 in New York City.
Process
The National Book Awards are given to one book and its author each year in five categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translation, and young people's literature. Other categories existed in the past, but they are no longer used or have been combined into the five current categories. The National Book Foundation also gives two lifetime achievement awards each year: the "Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters" and the "Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community."
Only publishers can nominate books for the National Book Awards, but judges may ask publishers to suggest specific books. Each judging panel has five members, including writers, librarians, booksellers, and literary critics. In 2013, the panels were expanded to include experts in the literary field, in addition to well-known writers.
Each panel reviews hundreds of books each year in all five categories. In 2013, the Foundation added a longlist of ten books per category, announced in September, before selecting a list of five finalists per category, announced in October. The category for translated literature was added in 2018, marking the first time since 1983 that works in translation were recognized. At the National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner in New York City each November, the head of each judging panel announces the winners. Each finalist receives $1,000, a medal, and a written statement from the panel. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture.
History
The first National Book Awards were given in May 1936 during a meeting of the American Booksellers Association. This happened one month after The New York Times announced the start of a new annual award. The winners were authors of four books published in 1935. Members of the American Booksellers Association voted to choose the winners. Virginia Kirkus led a group of seven people, including the ABA president, three bookstores, Publishers Weekly, and American News Company. Three books were called "the most distinguished of 1935" in the categories of novel, biography, and general nonfiction. One book was called "the most original" in the novel category. Two of the winning books were advertised by their publishers as "the most distinguished autobiography of 1935" and "the most distinguished general nonfiction book of 1935" in The New York Times on May 12, the same day the newspaper reported the awards.
From 1937 to 1942, the awards were announced between mid-February and early March. Starting in 1937, the categories "Most Distinguished" Nonfiction, Biography, and Novel were changed to "Favorite" Nonfiction and Fiction. Clifton Fadiman, who hosted the event, said the National Book Awards were different from the Pulitzer Prizes because booksellers voted for their favorite books, not for the "best" books or those that would improve society. He said, "We can decide which books are masterpieces in the future, but this year we only choose the ones we enjoyed reading the most."
The "Bookseller Discovery" award was created to recognize books that had good quality but did not sell well or get enough attention. In 1941, The New York Times described this award as a "consolation prize" that booksellers hoped would help more people notice the work.
Winning authors and books were chosen by a vote of booksellers (ABA members). During the 1937/38 cycle, 319 stores voted, which was three times the number that voted in 1936. In a 1941 ad, the booksellers explained the awards this way: "Your vote says, 'Of all the books this year, these are the three I enjoyed most—because I liked reading them and because I liked selling them.' To a bookseller, this means people listened to your recommendations, read the books, and even brought others to read them." The National Book Awards gave a strong guarantee of reading pleasure, the ad said.
In January 1950, three book industry groups announced that books written by Americans published in the United States would be honored with three awards in March. Each award had a panel of five judges. The judges included people like Elmer Davis, John Kieran, and Henry Steele Commager for nonfiction; Mary Colum, Glenway Wescott, and Malcolm Cowley for fiction; and W. H. Auden, Louise Bogan, and Babett Duetsch for poetry.
The National Book Committee managed the awards from 1950 until 1974, when it stopped working after publishers withdrew their support. In 1950 and 1967, the prize sponsors were the American Booksellers Association, the American Book Publishers Council, and the Book Manufacturers Institute. In 1973, The New York Times described the National Book Committee as a nonprofit group funded by publishers and book industry organizations. A temporary group handled the awards in 1975.
In 1964, the Nonfiction category was split into three. The National Book Award for Translation was added in 1967 and given to two books for the first time. Children’s literature was first recognized as one of seven categories in 1969. In 1973, two awards were split for the first time.
After 1974, publishers stopped supporting the National Book Committee, and it ended. In 1975, the temporary administrator asked judges not to split awards. In 1983, three of 27 awards were split before a major change in 1984, which required selecting a single winner in all categories.
The Poetry category was added in 1991, followed by Young People’s Literature in 1996 and Translated Literature in 2018. In 1980, the "National Book Awards" were canceled and replaced by "American Book Awards," modeled after the Oscars. A spokesperson said the new awards would be similar to the Academy Awards, with nearly 30 awards given at a large, TV-friendly ceremony. However, the plan was poorly implemented and failed.
Most new categories lasted only one to four years, from 1980 to 1983. In 1979, there were seven award categories; in 1980, 28; in 1983, 19 (plus graphics awards). In 1983, there were 30 award winners in 27 categories, including 14 for adult writing, five for hardcover editions, six for paperbacks, and three general categories.
In 1983, the AAP Board decided to fund a new version of the awards, which had nearly stopped due to lack of support. At the time, AAP and Harper & Row president Brooks Thomas expected fewer than ten categories, including some for original paperbacks, not reprints. Edwin McDowell reported that many in the book industry hoped the awards would be as important as the $15,000 Booker McConnell Prize for Fiction in Britain.
For 1983 publications (January to October), there were no awards. A committee designed a new program, starting in fall 1984 for books published from November 1983. They reduced the number of categories to three (Nonfiction, Fiction, and First Work of Fiction), moved the ceremony to late fall, and required books to be published in the same year as the awards. In 1986, only Fiction and Nonfiction awards were given.
In 1987, the "National" award name returned. Edwin McDowell of The New York Times noted the many changes in format, especially in 1983, when there were 96 finalists in 27 categories. The surviving Fiction and Nonfiction awards, now with five finalists each, were managed by National Book Awards, Inc. The chairman of the board was the president of the Hearst Trade Book Group. He said, "Book people are not actors, and we now realize we should not reward things like the best book blurb." The number of finalists stayed at five until 2012, while the number of categories doubled with the addition of Poetry and Young People’s Literature.
Starting in 2013, the National Book Foundation announced a "longlist" of 10 books in each of four categories in September (40 total), followed by a "finalist" list of five books in October (20 total), and winners
Annual eligibility
A book must be published between December 1 of the previous year and November 30 of the current year to qualify. Its publisher must complete a nomination form in the spring and send copies of the book to the panelists. The panelists read all the qualified books during this time, and the panels create shortlists in September.
Before the war, awards were announced in the winter, usually in February, and referred to the year the book was published, if known. For example, the "National Book Awards for 1939" were announced in February 1940. From 1950 to 1983, the National Book Foundation called these awards, and they were given in the spring for books published the year before. Since 1984, the National Book Awards have been presented in the fall, usually in November, to books published roughly during the calendar year (from December of the previous year through November).
Medal for Distinguished Contribution (lifetime)
The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters is a special award given for a lifetime of achievements. It is presented by the Foundation during the last event of the Book Awards. The medal includes a cash prize of $10,000. It honors individuals who have helped make American literature better through their work and contributions over many years.
Out of the 17 medalists up to 2004, five had won National Book Awards before (Bellow, Welty, McCullough, Updike, and Roth). Only McCullough had won for non-fiction. From 2005 to 2018, all medalists except Leonard and Allende had previously won National Book Awards.
Literarian Award for Outstanding Service (lifetime)
The Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community is a special honor given by the National Book Foundation every year since 2005. This award honors a person who has done outstanding work to support the American literary community. The winner’s life and achievements show the Foundation’s goals of helping more people enjoy literature and making literature more valuable in American culture.