Living Canon

National Book Critics Circle Award 2018: Complete list of winners

The National Book Critics Circle Award has long served as one of the literary world’s most respected honors, celebrated for recognizing excellence across diverse genres and bringing attention to books that might otherwise slip beneath the mainstream radar. The 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award winners showcase a particularly compelling year in American letters, with honorees spanning from Ada Limón’s meditative poetry collection The Carrying to Anna Burns’ audacious novel Milkman, a stream-of-consciousness exploration of life during the Troubles in Northern Ireland that captivated readers and critics alike. The fiction category win was especially noteworthy, as Burns’ challenging narrative style represents the kind of literary risk-taking that the NBCC has historically championed.

This year’s selections reveal the breadth of the National Book Critics Circle’s reach and influence. Steve Coll’s meticulously researched Directorate S claimed the nonfiction prize for its unflinching examination of America’s shadow wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while Nora Krug’s Belonging brought visual narrative and personal history to the autobiography category—a genre increasingly influenced by hybrid forms and graphic elements. Zadie Smith’s Feel Free continued her legacy as one of contemporary criticism’s most incisive voices, and Christopher Bonanos’ Flash: The Making of Weegee the Famous brought fresh perspective to the life of one of photography’s most iconic figures.

Below, you’ll find the complete list of 2018 National Book Critics Circle Award winners across all categories.

Autobiography

Biography

Criticism

Fiction

Nonfiction

Poetry