National Book Critics Circle Awards Announces First-Ever Longlist for Poetry

Mar. 15, 2025

Selections from the NBCC Award Poetry longlist.Photo:Amazon

Amazon

The final National Book Critics Circle Awards genre longlist has arrived.On Dec. 19, the organization announced their sixth award longlist, for the poetry genre. From Dec. 16 to Dec. 19, the NBCCshared the longlistsfor their coveted literary award for the first time, in honor of the organization’s 50th anniversary.The Poetry longlist includes:

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.The organization “honors outstanding writing and fosters a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature,” per theirmission statement.

“The NBCC is proud to release our longlists for the first time in our 50-year history,” said NBCC President Heather Scott Partington in the organization’s initial Dec. 16 announcement. “Revealing them allows us to honor more writers, translators and books than we ever have in a single year. The best books of 2024 were narratives of resilience, interrogation and imagination. They asked us to question power, art and genre."

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!The organization will also bestow the Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize and the John Leonard Prize, awarded to the best first book in any genre.

The 2024 NBCC Award finalists will be announced on Jan 23, 2025. Prizes will be awarded on March 20, 2025.“At a time when the freedom to read is under attack, we’re thrilled to shout these authors’ names from the rooftops,” Partington continued. “We celebrate their fearlessness and artistic vision. These are vital words.”

source: people.com