National Book Award for Fiction

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The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards that recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the National Book Foundation has administered and presented the awards, but they are awards "by writers to writers". The judges are five "writers who are known to be doing great work in their genre or field". General fiction was one of four categories when the awards were reestablished in 1950. For several years beginning in 1980, there were multiple fiction categories: hardcover, paperback, first novel or first work of fiction; from 1981 to 1983 hardcover and paperback children's fiction; and in 1980 five awards for mystery fiction, science fiction, and western fiction. When the Foundation celebrated the 60th postwar awards in 2009, all but three of the 77 previous winners in fiction categories were in print. The 77 included all eight 1980 winners but excluded the 1981 to 1983 children's fiction winners. The award recognizes one...

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