The National Book Critics Circle is an Americannonprofit organization ) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics Circle Awards, a set of literary awards presented every March. The organization was founded April 1974 in New York City by "John Leonard, Nona Balakian, and Ivan Sandrof intending to extend the Algonquin round table to a national conversation". It was formally chartered October 1974 as a New York statenon-profit corporation and the Advisory Board voted in November to establish annual literary awards. In the first newsletter three months later, President Ivan Sandrof proclaimed the primary purpose "to improve and maintain the standards of literary criticism in an era of diminishing and deteriorating values". At that time there were 140 members, with outreach to freelance critics planned for that year. NBCC first presented its Awards in January 1976 to books published during 1975 in four categories. Only active review editors and reviewers may be voting members; they elect the 24 Directors who formally make nominations and alone make final selections each year. A fifth award category for books was added for 1983 and divided in two for 2005. Since 2005 there are eight awards. Six National Book Critics Circle Awards recognize "best books" published in the United States during the preceding year in six categories: fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, biography, criticism, and poetry. Annually "the most accomplished reviewer" among its members is recognized by the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. The NBCC also recognizes no more than one person or organization for "exceptional contributions to books" with the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. All eight awards are officially dated in the preceding year. As a professional association, NBCC also works to improve the quality of reviews and provides services to its members.
Controversies
In 2020, more than half of the 24 board members resigned over conflicting views on how to address perceived racial disparities both on the board, and within the industry they represent. This demonstrative revolt has also been attributed to breaches in confidentiality stemming from leaked emails, and the dismissive, antagonistic communication style of a long-standing board member, Carlin Ramano, who half the board members describe as a bully. Overall, the mass resignations amount to a controversy seen as part of an industry-wide reckoning concerning the lack of diversity in publishing and literary awards.
