National Book Award

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards.[1][2] They are presented to U.S. authors for books published in the United States roughly during the award year. At the final "National Book Awards Ceremony" every November, the National Book Foundation presents the NBAs and two lifetime achievement awards to people.

The National Book Awards were established in 1936 by the American Booksellers Association,[3][4] abandoned during World War II, and re-established by three book industry organizations in 1950. Non-U.S. authors and publishers were eligible for the pre-war awards.

The nonprofit National Book Foundation was established in 1988 to administer and enhance the Book Awards and "move beyond [them] into the fields of education and literacy", primarily by sponsoring public appearances by writers.[5] Its mission is "to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America."[6]

There were 1115 books nominated for the four 2010 awards, led by the Nonfiction category with 435 nominations. The 2011 ceremony was held on November 16 in New York City.[7]

Contents

[edit] Winners and finalists

[edit] Current process

National Book Awards are currently given to one book (author) annually in each of four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature. There have been awards in many other categories but they have been retired or subsumed in the current four. The National Book Foundation also presents 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".[9]

Only publishers nominate books for the NBAs but panelists may request particular nominations from publishers. Each panel comprises five "writers who are known to be doing great work in their genre or field"[10] and publicity emphasizes awards "by writers to writers" in contrast to the 1980 to 1987 American Book Awards.[9]

Each panel considers hundreds of books per category each year, 148 (poetry) to 435 (nonfiction) for the 2010 awards. Five finalists per category are announced in October; panel chairs announce the winners and present the awards at the "National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner" held in New York City each November. All finalists get $1000, a medal, and a citation written by the panel; winners gets $10,000 and a bronze sculpture.[11]

The Foundation has created "National Book Awards Week" which culminates in the public awards ceremony. The Week begins with "5 Under 35", which spotlights emerging young fiction writers selected and introduced by authors of NBA finalists. It includes book readings by the finalists, a private medal ceremony, and more.

[edit] History

page is in the middle of an expansion or major revamping
 This article or section is in the middle of an expansion or major restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. If this article or section has not been edited in several days, please remove this template.
This article was last edited by P64 (talk | contribs) 0 seconds ago. (Purge)

[edit] Pre-war awards by booksellers

[edit] Reestablished by the book industry

[edit] New categories and split awards

In 1964 Nonfiction was divided in three.[12]

The National Book Award for Translation was introduced in 1967 and split between two books,[13] the first split.[14]

Children's literature was first recognized as one of seven categories in 1969.[15]

Two awards were split in 1973 for the first time.[14]

first time for two splits. first split?

Publishers dropped their support after 1974 and the National Book Committee was disbanded.[16] In 1975 the temporary administrator "begged" judges not to split awards.[16]

Three of 27 awards were split in 1983[17] before the drastic cutback that also required selection of a single winner in all three categories for 1984.[18][19]

Cut to two for 1986.[20]

[edit] The Academy Awards model

In 1980 the "National Book Awards" were canceled and replaced by "American Book Awards" on the film industry model (Oscars). "It will be run almost exactly the way the Academy Awards are run," a spokesman told reporters."[21] There would be nearly 30 awards presented in an extravagant TV-friendly ceremony, to winners selected by a standing "academy" of more than 2000 people in the book industry.[21] Implementation was poor, the episode a disaster.[21]

Most new categories survived only one to four cycles, 1980 to 1983.

In 1983 there were 30 award winners in 27 categories including 14 categories of literary achievement in writing for adults; in turn, five for hardcover editions, six for paperback editions, and three general.[17]

27 awards

  • 8 for graphics: Pictorial Design, Typographical Design, Illustration Collected Art, Illustration Original Art, Illustration Photographs, Cover Design, Jacket Design
  • 5 for children's literature: (Children's) Fiction hardcover and paperback, Nonfiction, Picture Books hardcover and paperback
  • 14 for adults' literature: General Nonfiction hardcover and paperback, History hardcover and paperback, Biography hardcover and paperback, Science hardcover and paperback, Translation, Fiction hardcover and paperback, Poetry, First Novel, Original Paperback

For 1984 a committee of five (the chairwoman and four publishers) cut the roster to three awards: Nonfiction, Fiction, and First Work of Fiction. At the same time, the ceremony was moved from early spring to late fall and eligibility redefined nearly to require publication during the calendar year of the awards (see below).[17][18]

First fiction was dropped after 1985, leaving only the general fiction and nonfiction awards in 1986, the last year for "American" awards.

page is in the middle of an expansion or major revamping
 This article or section is in the middle of an expansion or major restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. If this article or section has not been edited in several days, please remove this template.
This article was last edited by P64 (talk | contribs) 0 seconds ago. (Purge)

In 1987 the so-called National Book Award returned, with a fixed number of five finalists instituted.

In 1988 the National Book Foundation was established with the mission partly to administer the awards. Poetry joined fiction and nonfiction in 1991; Young People's Literature in 1996; no expansion since then.

[edit] Annual eligibility

Currently a book must be published "between December 1 of the previous year and November 30 of the current year." Its publisher must complete a nomination by June 15 and mail copies to the panelists by August 1. The panelists read all the valid nominees "over the summer" and the panels compile shortlists in September.[10]

The pre-war awards were announced in the winter, usually February, and described with reference to the year of publication, if any; for example, "National Book Awards for 1939" announced February 1940.[22] The 1950 to 1983 awards, as the National Book Foundation now labels them, were presented in the spring to works published during the preceding calendar year.[23] [17] From 1984 the NBAs are presented in the fall, usually November, to books published roughly during the current calendar year (November to October, in 1984).[18] It appears that books published in the first ten months of 1983 were never eligible.

[edit] Medal for Distinguished Contribution (lifetime)

The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters is a lifetime achievement award presented by the Foundation at the final ceremony for the Book Awards. The medal comes with a cash prize of $10,000. It recognizes someone who "has enriched [American] literary heritage over a life of service, or a corpus of work."[5]

[edit] Literarian Award for Outstanding Service (lifetime)

The Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community is a lifetime achievement award presented by the Foundation annually from 2005. It recognizes "an individual for outstanding service to the American literary community, whose life and work exemplify the goals of the National Book Foundation to expand the audience for literature and to enhance the cultural value of literature in America."[24]

[edit] Criticism

The NBAs were criticized during the last cycle.

Laura Miller, writing in Salon (Oct 12, 2011), said the Fiction award has became a Newbery Medal for adults: Good for you whether you like it or not. She said "the impression has arisen that already-successful titles are automatically sidelined in favor of books that the judges feel deserve an extra boost of attention.. the nominated books [often] exhibit qualities — a poetic prose style, elliptical or fragmented storytelling — that either don’t matter much to nonprofessional readers, or even put them off." She clams the NBA has become irrelevant to average readers and of more interest to professional writers.[25]

Craig Fehrman, writing in The New York Times (October 28, 2011), said "the National Book Awards [are] known for this sort of thing. They're awards for insiders."[21]

Miller and Fehrman seem to criticize the NBAs for honoring writers' writers rather than popular writers, but Fehrman's main point is to describe the Hollywood-style interlude of 1980 to 1986 (so-called American Book Awards), which he calls "disastrous".[21]

[edit] See also

Awards

Literary festival

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "National Book Award", Infoplease: Arts and Entertainment: Awards: Book, Magazine, Newspaper Awards. Infoplease.com. Retrieved before 2011-10.
  2. ^ "Seattle's Egan wins National Book Award", Mary Ann Gwynn, The Seattle Times, November 15, 2006. Retrieved before 2011-10.
  3. ^ "Books and Authors", The New York Times, 1936-04-12, page BR12. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2007).
  4. ^ "Lewis is Scornful of Radio Culture: Nothing Ever Will Replace the Old-Fashioned Book ...", The New York Times, 1936-05-12, page 25. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2007).
  5. ^ a b National Book Foundation: Awards: "Distinguished Contribution to American Letters". Retrieved before 2012-01-07.
  6. ^ National Book Foundation: "History of the National Book Foundation". Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  7. ^ National Book Foundation: About Us: "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  8. ^ National Book Foundation: Awards: "National Book Award Winners: 1950 – 2009". Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  9. ^ a b National Book Foundation: About Us: "History of the National Book Awards". Retrieved before 2011-10.
  10. ^ a b National Book Foundation: Awards: "How the National Book Awards Work". Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  11. ^ National Book Foundation: Awards: "National Book Award Selection Process". Retrieved before 2011-10.
  12. ^ "National Book Awards – 1964". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-31. Compare 1963 (via menu at top of page).
  13. ^ "National Book Awards – 1967". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-31. Compare 1966 (via menu at top of page).
  14. ^ a b "2 Book Awards Split for First Time", Eric Pace, The New York Times, April 11, 1973. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  15. ^ "National Book Awards – 1969". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-31. Compare 1968 (via menu at top of page).
  16. ^ a b "The Last of the National Book Awards?" (The Guest Word), William Cole, The New York Times, May 4, 1975, page 288. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2007).
  17. ^ a b c d "American Book Awards Announced", Edwin McDowell, The New York Times, April 14, 1983, page C30. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2007).
  18. ^ a b c "11 Nominated for American Book Awards", Edwin McDowell, The New York Times, October 18, 1984, page C25. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2007).
  19. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nyt1984; see Help:Cite errors/Cite error references no text
  20. ^ "National Book Awards – 1986". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-01-31. Compare 1985 (via menu at top of page).
  21. ^ a b c d e "The Short, Unsuccessful Life of the American Book Awards", Craig Fehrman, The New York Times, October 28, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  22. ^ "1939 Book Awards Given by Critics: Elgin Groseclose's 'Ararat' is Picked as Work Which Failed to Get Due Recognition", The New York Times, February 14, 1940, page 25. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2007).
  23. ^ "Book Publishers Make 3 Awards: ... Gold Plaques", The New York Times, March 17, 1950, page 21. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2007).
  24. ^ National Book Foundation: Awards: "Literarian Award – 2005". Retrieved before 2011-10.
  25. ^ "How the National Book Awards made themselves irrelevant", Laura Miller, Salon, October 12, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-13.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Book_Award&oldid=474271562"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages