National Book Critics Circle Finalists Announced!

The New York Times' ArtsBeat reminds us that the National Book Critics Circle Awards are "one of the most prestigious American literary awards...judged by a panel of critics and book review editors." They come in six categories: autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Both ArtsBeat and the LA Times report on the announcement of the finalists, which occurred yesterday evening. To note! Claudia Rankine's much-admired Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf) "was nominated in two categories, poetry and criticism, the first time since the awards were created around 40 years ago that a single book has received two nominations."

The full list of Poetry finalists:

POETRY
Saeed Jones, "Prelude to Bruise" (Coffee House Press)
Willie Perdomo, "The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon" (Penguin Books)
Claudia Rankine, "Citizen: An American Lyric" (Graywolf Press)
Christian Wiman, "Once in the West" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
Jake Adam York, "Abide" (Southern Illinois University Press)