The National Book Critics Circle revealed the finalists for its 2024 literary awards, with Percival Everett, Adam Higginbotham, and the late Alexei Navalny among the authors contending for the annual prizes.
Everett was named a finalist in the fiction category for James, which previously won the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award. Also shortlisted for the fiction prize were Marie-Helene Bertino for Beautyland, Joseph O’Neill for Godwin, Hisham Matar for My Friends, and Nora Lange for Us Fools.
Higginbotham was shortlisted in the nonfiction category for his Kirkus Prize–winning Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, alongside Steve Coll for The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq; Tricia Romano for The Freaks Came Out To Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture; Gretchen Sisson for Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood; and Edwidge Danticat for We’re Alone.
Navalny, the Russian anti-corruption activist who died last year in jail, made the autobiography shortlist for Patriot, translated by Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel. Also named finalists in the autobiography category were Manjula Martin for The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History; Wei Tchou for Little Seed; Zito Madu for The Minotaur at Calle Lanza; and Erika Morillo for Mother Archive: A Dominican Family Memoir.
The NBCC also announced the winners of two achievement awards. Sandra Cisneros won the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, given to a person, while Chicago-based Third World Press took home the Toni Morrison Achievement Award, given to an institution.
The winners of the prizes will be announced at a ceremony in New York on March 20. Maxine Hong Kingston will speak at the ceremony as a distinguished guest in honor of the group’s 50th anniversary.
A full list of finalists is available at the NBCC website.
Tom Beer is the editor-in-chief.
