If you have not registered for this event yet, see below for registration options and event details.
ABOUT THIS EVENT
A celebration of literary excellence honoring the 2020 award winners. Finalists for this awards ceremony were announced at our January 24, 2021 celebration.
Please join President David Varno and the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors for a virtual celebration of literary excellence honoring our 2020 award winners.
The National Book Critics Circle honors outstanding writing and fosters a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature. The organization was founded in April 1974 at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, by John Leonard, Nona Balakian, and Ivan Sandrof, among others. The NBCC gained 501(c)(3) status in October 2006 and has since received grants from the NEA and Amazon Literary Partnerships to support its work. Today the NBCC serves nearly 800 member critics, authors, student members, and friends. Its Emerging Critics fellowship offers mentorship and education to a class of about a dozen aspiring critics each year.
Members of the NBCC receive access to a membership directory for finding and communicating with other critics, a continuously updated guide to publications that publish reviews, the ability to nominate titles for our annual awards and elect board members, and a variety of discounts on literary magazines. Members' reviews and career notes are published weekly in our Critical Notes newsletter.
Download the evening’s program here:
FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T MAKE THE LIVE EVENT: If you can't make the live program at 7pm EST, you can replay the event at anytime - but you still need to register! Once registered, you'll receive an email with details on where you can watch a replay.
REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT
Select a registration option below.
Register for free to attend the virtual 2020 NBCC Awards Ceremony on March 25th, 2021 at 7pm ET. Registration is free, though donations to NBCC below are welcome.
Prior to the main ceremony on March 25th, the 2020 NBCC award finalists will read from their work during a special reception hosted by Balakian winner Maureen Corrigan. Register below to attend this private reception at 5:30pm ET as well as the main 2020 NBCC Awards Ceremony at 7pm ET. Suggested donations for this private event are $25 (or more) for NBCC members and $50 (or more) for nonmembers.
*** Donations of $50 or more may be redeemed for one year of annual membership to NBCC.
PURCHASE THE 2020 FINALISTS
Ordering a book below automatically registers you for the 2020 NBCC Awards Ceremony and finalists’ reading on March 25th, 2021. Once you’ve completed checkout, you’ll receive instructions on how to access the event.
All orders will be fulfilled by City Lights, the official bookseller of the 2020 NBCC Awards Ceremony.
Fiction
Nonfiction
Biography
Autobiography
Poetry
Criticism
John Leonard Prize
MORE ABOUT NBCC
The National Book Critics Circle honors outstanding writing and fosters a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature.
The National Book Critics Circle was founded in April 1974 at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, with founding members John Leonard, Nona Balakian, and Ivan Sandrof intending to extend the Algonquin round table to a national conversation. The NBCC gained 501(c)(3) status in October 2006, and in 2010 received an NEA grant to support the website and its literary blog, Critical Mass.
The NBCC serves nearly 800 member critics, authors, literary bloggers, book publishing professionals, student members, and friends. Membership is open to freelance and staff book reviewers, associate nonvoting members, student members, and friends. Full members receive access to tips on book reviewing, an annually updated guide to publications that accept freelance pitches for reviews, the ability to nominate titles for our annual awards and elect board members, plus a variety of discounts on literary magazines.
Please considering making a tax-deductible donation to NBCC. Every dollar goes to supporting and encouraging the art and craft of literary criticism.
MORE ABOUT CITY LIGHTS
Founded in 1953 by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin, City Lights is one of the few truly great independent bookstores in the United States, a place where booklovers from across the country and around the world come to browse, read, and just soak in the ambiance of alternative culture's only "Literary Landmark." Although it has been more than fifty years since tour buses with passengers eager to sight "beatniks" began pulling up in front of City Lights, the Beats' legacy of anti-authoritarian politics and insurgent thinking continues to be a strong influence in the store, most evident in the selection of titles.
The nation's first all-paperback bookstore, City Lights has expanded several times over the years; we now offer three floors of both new-release hardcovers and quality paperbacks from all of the major publishing houses, along with an impressive range of titles from smaller, harder-to-find, specialty publishers. The store features an extensive and in-depth selection of poetry, fiction, translations, politics, history, philosophy, music, spirituality, and more, with a staff whose special book interests in many fields contribute to the hand-picked quality of what you see on the shelves.
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Thank you to our event producers at Wildbound Live:
Email events@wildboundlive.com with any questions.