The National Book Critics Circle Award for Memoir and Autobiography, established in 2005, is an annual American literary award presented by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English." Awards are presented annually to books published in the U.S. during the preceding calendar year in six categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Memoir/Autobiography, Biography, and Criticism. Between 1983 and 2004, the award was presented jointly with biography.
Books previously published in English are not eligible, such as re-issues and paperback editions. They do consider "translations, short story and essay collections, self published books, and any titles that fall under the general categories."
The judges are the volunteer directors of the NBCC who are 24 members serving rotating three-year terms, with eight elected annually by the voting members, namely "professional book review editors and book reviewers." Winners of the awards are announced each year at the NBCC awards ceremony in conjunction with the yearly membership meeting, which takes place in March.
Recipients +National Book Critics Circle Award for Memoir and Autobiography winners and finalists Year Author Title Result 1983Minor CharactersWinner1984Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850–1859Winner1985Henry James: A LifeWinner1986The Life of Langston Hughes, Vol. I: 1902-1941Winner1987Chaucer: His Life, His Works, His WorldWinner1988Oscar WildeWinner1989A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin RooseveltWinner1990Means of Ascent: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol. IIWinner1991Patrimony: A True StoryWinner1992Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy and Her WorldWinner1993GenetWinner1994Shot in the HeartWinner1995Savage Art: A Biography of Jim ThompsonWinner1996Angela's AshesWinner1997Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War IIWinner1998A Beautiful MindWinner1999The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and WhiteWinner2000Hirohito and the Making of Modern JapanWinner2001Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr.JohnsonWinner2002Charles Darwin: The Power of Place, Vol. IIWinner2003Khrushchev: The Man and His EraWinner2004 and Annalyn SwanDe Kooning: An American MasterWinner2005Them: A Memoir of ParentsWinner2006The Lost: A Search for Six of Six MillionWinner2007Brother, I'm DyingWinnerHeart Like Water: Surviving Katrina and Life in Its Disaster ZoneFinalistRussian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption and Death in Putin's RussiaThe Journals of Joyce Carol Oates, 1973–1982Writing in an Age of Silence2008My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish IraqWinnerThe Bishop's DaughterFinalistThe Eaves of HeavenThe House on Sugar BeachWhy I Came West2009Somewhere Towards the EndWinnerCity BoyFinalistEnemies of the People: My Family's Journey to AmericaLitLive Through This: A Mother's Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love2010Half a LifeWinnerCrossing Mandelbaum Gate Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978FinalistHiroshima in the MorningHitch-22: A MemoirJust KidsThe Autobiography of an Execution2011The Memory PalaceWinnerHarlem is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black AmericaFinalistIt Calls You Back: An Odyssey through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and HealingOne Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of HealingRevolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War2012Swimming StudiesWinnerHouse of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle EastFinalistIn the House of the InterpreterMy PoetsThe Distance Between Us2013Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter From HaitiWinnerMen We ReapedFinalistThe Book of My LivesThe Faraway NearbyWave2014Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?WinnerLittle FailureFinalistThe Other SideThe Splendid Things We Planned: A Family PortraitThere Was and There Was Not2015Negroland: A MemoirWinnerBettyvilleFinalistH is for HawkThe Light of the WorldThe Odd Woman and the City2016Lab GirlWinnerIn GratitudeFinalistThe IcebergThe Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in BetweenThe Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father2017Nine Continents: A Memoir In and Out of ChinaWinnerAdmissions: Life as a Brain SurgeonFinalistHunger: A Memoir of (My) BodyThe Best We Could Do: An Illustrated MemoirThe Girl From the Metropol Hotel: Growing Up in Communist Russia2018Belonging: A German Reckons With History and HomeWinnerAll You Can Ever Know: A MemoirFinalistEducated: A MemoirOld in Art School: A Memoir of Starting OverThe Day That Went Missing: A Family's StoryWhat Drowns the Flowers in Your Mouth: A Memoir of Brotherhood2019Know My Name: A MemoirWinnerCatch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect PredatorsFinalistFive Days Gone: The Mystery of My Mother's Disappearance as a ChildGood Talk: A Memoir in ConversationsSounds Like Titanic: A Memoir2020Minor Feelings: An Asian American ReckoningWinnerGolem GirlFinalistHome Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San FranciscoThe Dragons, The Giant, The WomenThis Is Major: Notes on Diana Ross, Dark Girls, and Being Dope2021Gay Bar: Why We Went OutWinnerA Farewell To Gabo And Mercedes: A Son's Memoir of Gabriel García Márquez and Mercedes BarchaFinalistA Ghost in the ThroatA Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black PerformanceConcepcion: An Immigrant Family's Fortunes2022Stay True: A MemoirWinnerLinea Nigra: An Essay on Pregnancy and EarthquakesFinalistA Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea CoastCome Back in September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-Seventh Street, ManhattanThe Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir2023How to Say Babylon: A MemoirWinnerI Would Meet You Anywhere: A MemoirFinalistSecret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family FarmRotten Evidence: Reading and Writing in an Egyptian PrisonStory of a Poem: A Memoir2024 ( Arch Tait with Stephen Dalziel)Patriot: A MemoirWinnerFinalistMother Archive: A Dominican Family Memoir Little Seed2025Mother Mary Comes to MeWinnerMemorial DaysFinalistPaper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America Shattered
References
External links Official website