The National Book Critics Circle has revealed the finalists for its annual literary awards, given to books published in 2025.
We Do Not Part, written by South Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang and translated by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris, made the fiction shortlist, alongside On the Calculation of Volume (Book III), written by Solvej Balle and translated by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell; The Antidote by Karen Russell; Audition by Katie Kitamura, and The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy, also a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.
Kirkus Prize winner King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson was named a finalist in the nonfiction category, as were Greg Grandin’s Kirkus Prize finalist book America, América: A New History of the New World; Barbara Demick’s Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins; Karen Hao’s Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI; and Gardiner Harris’ No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson.
Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me, a Kirkus Prize finalist, made the NBCC’s autobiography shortlist, alongside Geraldine Brooks’ Memorial Days, Beth Macy’s Paper Girl, Hanif Kureishi’s Shattered, and Miriam Toews’ A Truce That Is Not Peace.
Lucas Schaefer’s Kirkus Prize–winning The Slip was named a finalist for the John Leonard Prize, given to the best first book in any genre. Also nominated were Kirkus Prize finalist Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs; Crown by Evanthia Bromiley; Hunchback, written by Saou Ichikawa and translated by Polly Barton; Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly; and Salvage by Hedgie Choi.
The NBCC also announced that journalist and historian Frances FitzGerald (Fire in the Lake, The Evangelicals) will be presented with the organization’s Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. The winner of the Toni Morrison Achievement Award, given annually to an institution, will be announced at a later date.
The National Book Critics Circle Awards were established in 1976. The winners of this year’s prizes will be revealed at a ceremony in New York on March 26. A full list of finalists and special award winners is available at the NBCC website.
Tom Beer is the editor-in-chief.
