Every winner, newest first
National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award Winners
1975 to 2025
Winners by year
Newest first. The year links to everything published or awarded that year.
About the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
The National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction has been voted on since 1975 by the board of the National Book Critics Circle, an organisation of working book reviewers founded in New York in 1974, which makes it the American book prize decided by critics rather than by authors, academics or publishers. Any book published in English in the United States is eligible, translations included, which is how W. G. Sebald's Austerlitz and Roberto Bolaño's 2666 came to win. The years below are publishing years: the 1975 award, to E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime, was presented in January 1976, and the ceremony has since settled in March. Each winning book below links to a summary and the story of its award.
- Awarded by
- National Book Critics Circle
- First awarded
- 1974
- Country
- United States
When it is announced
The board's committees vote on the finalists in January and the full board chooses the winners on the day of the awards ceremony in March. See the full announcement calendar.
How to enter
There is no entry fee and no formal submission. Publishers and authors send books to the committee members, and any book published in English in the United States during the calendar year is eligible, including translations.
Official prize site. Checked August 2026. Dates move year to year, so confirm on the official site before entering.