National Book Awards
On March 15, 1950, a consortium of book publishing groups sponsored the first annual National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Their goal was to enhance the public's awareness of exceptional books written by fellow Americans, and to increase the popularity of reading in general. Since then, The National Book Awards have become the nation's preeminent literary prizes, and The National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner the most important event on our literary calendar. Today, the Awards are given to recognize achievements in four genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. The Winners, selected by five-member, independent judging panels for each genre, receive a $10,000 cash award and a crystal sculpture.
Fiction
| Year | Title / Author |
| 2010 | Lord of Misrule / Jaimy Gordon |
| 2009 | Let the Great World Spin / Colum McCann |
| 2008 | Shadow Country / Peter Matthiessen |
| 2007 | Tree of Smoke / Denis Johnson |
| 2006 | The Echo Maker / Richard Powers |
| 2005 | Europe Central / William T. Vollmann |
| 2004 | The News from Paraguay / Lily Tuck |
| 2003 | Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy / Carlos Eire |
| 2003 | The Great Fire / Shirley Hazzard |
| 2002 | Three Junes / Julia Glass |
| 2001 | The Corrections / Jonathan Franzen |
| 2001 | True Believer / Virginia Euwer Wolff |
| 2000 | In America / Susan Sontag |
| 1999 | Waiting / Ha Jin |
| 1998 | Charming Billy / Alice McDermott |
| 1997 | Cold Mountain / Charles Frazier |
| 1996 | Ship Fever and Other Stories / Andrea Barrett |
| 1995 | Sabbath's Theater / Philip Roth |
| 1994 | A Frolic of His Own / William Gaddis |
| 1993 | The Shipping News / E. Annie Proulx |
| 1992 | All the Pretty Horses / Cormac McCarthy |
| 1991 | Mating / Norman Rush |
| 1990 | Middle Passage / Charles Johnson |
| 1989 | Spartina / John Casey |
| 1988 | Paris Trout / Pete Dexter |
| 1987 | Paco's Story / Larry Heinemann |
| 1986 | World's Fair / E. L. Doctorow |
| 1985 | White Noise / Don DeLillo |
| 1984 | Victory over Japan: A Book of Stories / Ellen Gilchrist |
| 1983 | (Paperback) Collected Stories of Eudora Welty / Eudora Welty |
| 1983 | (Hardcover) The Color Purple / Alice Walker |
| 1982 | (Paperback) So Long, See You Tomorrow / William Maxwell |
| 1982 | (Hardcover) Rabbit is Rich / John Updike |
| 1981 | (Paperback) The Stories of John Cheever / John Cheever |
| 1981 | (Hardcover) Plains Song / Wright Morris |
| 1980 | (Paperback) The World According to Garp / John Irving |
| 1980 | (Hardcover) Sophie's Choice / William Styron |
| 1979 | Going After Cacciato / Tim O'Brien |
| 1978 | Blood Ties / Mary Lee Settle |
| 1977 | The Spectator Bird / Wallace Stegner |
| 1976 | Jr / William Gaddis |
| 1975 | The Hair of Harold Roux / Thomas Williams |
| 1975 | Dog Soldiers / Robert Stone |
| 1974 | A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories / Isaac Bashevis Singer |
| 1974 | Gravity's Rainbow / Thomas Pynchon |
| 1973 | Chimera / John Barth |
| 1972 | The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor / Flannery O'Connor |
| 1971 | Mr. Sammler's Planet / Saul Bellow |
| 1970 | Them / Joyce Carol Oates |
| 1969 | Steps / Jerzy Kosinski |
| 1968 | The Eighth Day / Thornton Wilder |
| 1967 | The Fixer / Bernard Malamud |
| 1966 | The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter / Katherine Anne Porter |
| 1965 | Herzog / Saul Bellow |
| 1964 | The Centaur / John Updike |
| 1963 | Morte D'Urban / J. F. Powers |
| 1962 | The Moviegoer / Walker Percy |
| 1961 | The Waters of Kronos / Conrad Richter |
| 1960 | Goodbye, Columbus / Philip Roth |
| 1959 | The Magic Barrel / Bernard Malamud |
| 1958 | The Wapshot Chronicle / John Cheever |
| 1957 | The Field of Vision / Wright Morris |
| 1956 | Ten North Frederick / John O'Hara |
| 1955 | A Fable / William Faulkner |
| 1954 | The Adventures of Augie March / Saul Bellow |
| 1953 | Invisible Man / Ralph Ellison |
| 1952 | From Here to Eternity / James Jones |
| 1951 | The Collected Stories of William Faulkner / William Faulkner |
| 1950 | The Man With The Golden Arm / Nelson Algren |
Nonfiction
| Year | Title / Author |
| 2010 | Just Kid / Patti Smith |
| 2009 | The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt / T. J. Stiles |
| 2008 | The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family / Annette Gordon-Reed |
| 2007 | Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA / Tim Weiner |
| 2006 | The Worst Hard Time:The Untold Story od Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl / Timothy Egan |
| 2005 | The Year of Magical Thinking / Joan Didion |
| 2004 | Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age / Kevin Boyle |
| 2002 | Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson / Robert A. Caro |
| 2001 | The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression / Andrew Solomon |
| 2000 | In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex / Nathaniel Philbrick |
| 1999 | Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II / John W. Dower |
| 1998 | Slaves in the Family / Edward Ball |
| 1997 | American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson / Joseph J. Ell |
| 1996 | An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War that Came Between Us / James Carroll |
| 1995 | The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism / Tina Rosenberg |
| 1994 | How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter / Sherwin B. Nuland |
| 1993 | United States: Essays 1952-1992 / Gore Vidal |
| 1992 | Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story / Paul Monette |
| 1991 | Freedom / Orlando Patterson |
| 1990 | The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance / Ron Chernow |
| 1989 | From Beirut to Jerusalem / Thomas L. Friedman |
| 1988 | A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam / Neil Sheehan |
| 1987 | The Making of the Atom Bomb / Richard Rhodes |
| 1986 | Arctic Dreams / Barry Lopez |
| 1985 | Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families / J. Anthony Lukas |
| 1984 | Andrew Jackson & the Course of American Democracy, 1833-1845 / Robert V. Remini |
| 1983 | (Paperback) National Defense / James Fallows |
| 1983 | (Hardcover) China: Alive in the Bitter Sea / Fox Butterfield |
| 1982 | (Paperback) Naming Names / Victor S. Navasky |
| 1982 | (Hardcover) The Soul of a New Machine / Tracy Kidder |
| 1981 | (Paperback) The Last Cowboy / Jane Kramer |
| 1981 | (Hardcover) China Men / Maxine Hong Kingston |
| 1980 | (Paperback) The Snow Leopard / Peter Matthiessen |
| 1980 | (Hardcover) The Right Stuff / Tom Wolfe |
| 1979 | (No Award) |
| 1979 | (No Award) |
| 1978 | (No Award) |
| 1977 | (No Award) |
| 1976 | (No Award) |
| 1975 | (No Award) |
| 1974 | (No Award) |
| 1973 | (No Award) |
| 1972 | (No Award) |
| 1971 | (No Award) |
| 1970 | (No Award) |
| 1969 | (No Award) |
| 1968 | (No Award) |
| 1967 | (No Award) |
| 1966 | (No Award) |
| 1965 | (No Award) |
| 1964 | (No Award) |
| 1963 | Henry James, Vol. II: The Conquest of London, Henry James, Vol. III: The Middle Years / Leon Edel |
| 1962 | The City in History: Its Origins, its Transformations and its Prospects / Lewis Mumford |
| 1961 | The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich / William L. Shirer |
| 1960 | James Joyce / Richard Ellmann |
| 1959 | Mistress to an Age: A Life of Madame De Stael / J. Christopher Herold |
| 1958 | The Lion and the Throne / Catherine Drinker Bowen |
| 1957 | Russia Leaves the War / George F. Kennan |
| 1956 | An American in Italy / Herbert Kubly |
| 1955 | The Measure of Man / Joseph Wood Krutch |
| 1954 | A Stillness at Appomattox / Bruce Catton |
| 1953 | The Course of Empire / Bernard A. De Voto |
| 1952 | The Sea Around Us / Rachel Carson |
| 1951 | Herman Melville / Newton Arvin |
| 1950 | Ralph Waldo Emerson / Ralph L. Rusk |
Poetry
| Year | Title / Author |
| 2010 | Lighthead / Terrance Hayes |
| 2009 | Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy / Keith Waldrop |
| 2008 | Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems / Mark Doty |
| 2007 | Time and Materials : poems, 1997-2005 / Robert Hass |
| 2006 | Splay Anthem / Nathaniel Mackey |
| 2005 | Migration:New and Selected Poems / W.S. Merwin |
| 2004 | Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003 / Jean Valentine |
| 2003 | The Singing / C. K. Williams |
| 2002 | In the Next Galaxy / Ruth Stone |
| 2001 | Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry / Alan Dugan |
| 2000 | Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 / Lucille Clifton |
| 1999 | Vice: New & Selected Poems / Ai |
| 1998 | This Time: New and Selected Poems / Gerald Stern |
| 1997 | Effort at Speech: New & Selected Poems / William Meredith |
| 1996 | Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey / Hayden Carruth |
| 1995 | Passing Through: The Later Poems / Stanley Kunitz |
| 1994 | A Worshipful Company of Fletchers / James Tate |
| 1993 | Garbage / A. R. Ammons |
| 1992 | New & Selected Poems / Mary Oliver |
| 1991 | What Work Is / Philip Levine |
| 1983 | Country Music: Selected Early Poems / Charles Wright |
| 1983 | Selected Poems / Galway Kinnell |
| 1982 | Life Supports: New and Collected Poems / William Bronk |
| 1981 | The Need to Hold Still / Lisel Mueller |
| 1980 | Ashes / Philip Levine |
| 1979 | Mirabell: Book of Numbers / James Merrill |
| 1978 | The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov / Howard Nemerov |
| 1977 | Collected Poems, 1930-1976 / Richard Eberhart |
| 1976 | Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror / John Ashbery |
| 1975 | Presentation Piece / Marilyn Hacker |
| 1974 | Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972 / Adrienne Rich |
| 1974 | The Fall of America: Poems of these States, 1965-1971 / Allen Ginsberg |
| 1973 | Collected Poems, 1951-1971 / A. R. Ammons |
| 1972 | The Collected Works of Frank O'Hara / Frank O'Hara |
| 1972 | Selected Poems / Howard Moss |
| 1971 | To See, To Take / Mona Van Duyn |
| 1970 | The Complete Poems / Elizabeth Bishop |
| 1969 | His Toy, His Dream, His Rest / John Berryman |
| 1968 | The Light Around the Body / Robert Bly |
| 1967 | Nights and Days / James Merrill |
| 1966 | Buckdancer's Choice: Poems / James Dickey |
| 1965 | The Far Field / Theodore Roethke |
| 1964 | Selected Poems / John Crowe Ransom |
| 1963 | Traveling Through the Dark / William Stafford |
| 1962 | Poems / Alan Dugan |
| 1961 | The Woman at the Washington Zoo / Randall Jarrell |
| 1960 | Life Studies / Robert Lowell |
| 1959 | Words for the Wind / Theodore Roethke |
| 1958 | Promises: Poems, 1954-1956 / Robert Penn Warren |
| 1957 | Things of the World / Richard Wilbur |
| 1956 | The Shield of Achilles / W.H. Auden |
| 1955 | The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens / Wallace Stevens |
| 1954 | Collected Poems / Conrad Aiken |
| 1953 | Collected Poems, 1917-1952 / Archibald MacLeish |
| 1952 | Collected Poems / Marianne Moore |
| 1951 | The Auroras of Autumn / Wallace Stevens |
| 1951 | The Auroras of Autumn / Wallace Stevens |
| 1950 | Paterson: Book III and Selected Poems / William Carlos Williams |
| 1950 | Paterson: Book III and Selected Poems / William Carlos Williams |
Young People Literature
| Year | Title / Author |
| 2010 | Mockingbird / Kathryn Erskine |
| 2009 | Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice / Phillip Hoose |
| 2008 | What I Saw and How I Lied / Judy Blundell |
| 2007 | The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian / Sherman Alexie |
| 2006 | The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing,Traitor to the Nation,Volume One:The Pox Party / M.T. Anderson |
| 2005 | The Penderwicks(中譯本:夏天的故事) / Jeanne Birdsall |
| 2004 | Godless / Pete Hautman |
| 2003 | The Canning Season / Polly Horvath |
| 2002 | The House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer |
| 2000 | Homeless Bird / Gloria Whelan |
| 1999 | When Zachary Beaver Came to Town / Kimberly Willis Holt |
| 1998 | Holes / Louis Sachar |
| 1997 | Dancing on the Edge / Han Nolan |
| 1996 | Parrott In the Oven: MiVida / Victor Martinez |
| 1995 | (No Award) |
| 1994 | (No Award) |
| 1993 | (No Award) |
| 1992 | (No Award) |
| 1991 | (No Award) |
| 1990 | (No Award) |
| 1989 | (No Award) |
| 1988 | (No Award) |
| 1987 | (No Award) |
| 1986 | (No Award) |
| 1985 | (No Award) |
| 1984 | (No Award) |
| 1983 | (hardcover fiction) Westmark / Lloyd Alexander |
| 1983 | (hardcover nonfiction) Chimney Sweeps / James Cross Giblin |
| 1983 | (paperback ficion) Marked by Fire / Joyce Carol Thomas |
| 1983 | (paperback fiction) A Place Apart / Paula Fox |
| 1983 | (hardcover fiction) Homesick: My Own Story / Jean Fritz |
| 1982 | (hardcover fiction) The Night Swimmers / Betsy Byars |
| 1982 | (hardcover nonfiction) A Penguin Year / Susan Bonners |
| 1982 | (paperback fiction) Words by Heart / Ouida Sebestyen |
| 1981 | (hardcover nonfiction) Mali -- Oh, Boy! Babies / Alison Cragin Herzig & Jane Lawrence |
| 1981 | (paperback fiction) Ramona and Her Mother / Beverly Cleary |
| 1980 | (paperback) A Swiftly Tilting Planet / Madeleine L'Engle |
| 1980 | (hardcover) A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal / Joan W. Blos |
| 1979 | The Great Gilly Hopkins / Katherine Paterson |
| 1978 | The View From the Oak / Judith Kohl & Herbert Kohl |
| 1977 | The Master Puppeteer / Katherine Paterson |
| 1976 | Bert Breen's Barn / Walter D. Edmonds |
| 1975 | M. C. Higgins the Great / Virginia Hamilton |
| 1974 | The Court of the Stone Children / Eleanor Cameron |
| 1973 | The Farthest Shore / Ursula K. LeGuin |
| 1972 | The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine or The Hithering Thithering Djinn / Donald Barthelme |
| 1971 | The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian / Lloyd Alexander |
| 1970 | A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing up in Warsaw / Isaac Bashevis Singer |
| 1970 | A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing up in Warsaw / Isaac Bashevis Singer |
| 1969 | Journey from Peppermint Street / Meindert DeJong |
| 1969 | Journey from Peppermint Street / Meindert DeJong |