National Book Award 1968: Complete list of winners

The National Book Award for 1968 arrived at a pivotal moment in American letters, when the nation’s literary establishment grappled with an increasingly fractured political landscape. That year, Robert Bly’s The Light Around the Body claimed the poetry prize, a collection that crystallized the antiwar movement’s moral urgency through luminous, sometimes cryptic imagery. Bly’s win represented a significant shift in what the prestigious National Book Award recognized—here was a poet whose work didn’t merely reflect the turbulent times but actively challenged readers to reckon with American militarism and spiritual emptiness. The collection’s meditative yet accusatory tone resonated with a literary culture hungry for art that engaged directly with conscience.

What made Bly’s victory particularly resonant was the way his poetry bridged accessible language with experimental form, earning him respect across different constituencies of the American poetry world. The Light Around the Body had appeared in 1967 during the height of Vietnam War protests, and its recognition by the National Book Award judges suggested that the nation’s most established literary institution was finally listening to its most urgent contemporary voices. The 1968 National Book Award winners would ultimately reflect a generation’s determination to make literature a vehicle for political and spiritual reckoning.

Below you’ll find the complete list of 1968 National Book Award winners across all categories.

Poetry

• The Light Around the Body by Robert Bly