The US National Book Awards Name Jurors, Open Submissions

In News by Porter Anderson

The 74th edition of the National Book Awards program based in New York City has opened submissions and named its 25 jurors.

At the National Book Awards’ 2022 gala in November in New York City. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Publishers’ Submission Deadline: May 17
As Frankfurter Buchmesse in Germany today up its new campaign for its 75th edition, the United States’ National Book Awards have opened their submissions call for the program’s 74th edition, today on the Ides of March.

The National Book Foundation has also named its jury panels, announcing a total 25 people who will assess, evaluate, and select the nominations and winners in the program’s  five categories.

In a prepared statement, the foundation’s executive director Ruth Dickey is quoted, saying, “The judging panels for the National Book Awards comprise 25 literary community members deeply committed to celebrating the very best literature. We’re so grateful to this group of voracious readers—who are about to embark on the reading journey of a lifetime

“Their dedication to the written word will have a lasting impact on writers, readers, and the global literary landscape in 2023 and beyond.”

  • These jurors, in the aggregate, will select a total 50 longlisted titles, 10 in each of the five categories, to be announced in mid-September.
  • From those, 25 titles will be shortlisted–they’re called finalists in this program’s jargon–and publicly named on October 3.
  • The winners’ gala is then anticipated to be held on November 15.

All submissions for the National Book Awards are made by publishers, and the submission period opened today will close at 5 p.m. ET on May 17.

Jury Panels Announced

Perhaps most familiar among these jurors to our international readership at Publishing Perspectives is translator Jeremy Tiang from Singapore, who will chair the panel for the Translated Literature category.

That panel’s membership:

The National Book Awards’ 2023 Translated Literature panel of jurors includes, from left, Geoffrey Brock, Arthur Malcolm Dixon, Cristina Rodriguez, T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, and Jeremy Tiang (chair)

The Fiction panel:

The 2023 National Book Awards jury panel in fiction features, from left, Steph Cha, Calvin Crosby, Silas House, Mat Johnson (chair), and Helena María Viramontes

The Nonfiction panel:

The National Book Awards’ 2023 nonfiction jury panelists are, from left, Hanif Abdurraqib, Ada Ferrer (chair), James Fugate, Sarah Schulman, and Sonia Shah

The Poetry jurors:

The National Book Awards’ 2023 jury panel on Poetry includes, from left, Rick Barot, Heid E. Erdrich (chair), Jonathan Farmer, Raina J. León, and Solmaz Sharif

The Young People’s Literature category panel:

The National Book Awards’ jurors in the Young People’s Literature category are, from left, Sarah Park Dahlen, Kyle Lukoff, Claudette S. McLinn (chair), Justin A. Reynolds, and Sabaa Tahir


More from Publishing Perspectives on the National Book Awards is here, and on awards programs in general is here. More from us on translation is here.

About the Author

Porter Anderson

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Porter Anderson is a non-resident fellow of Trends Research & Advisory, and he has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.