The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) has announced its highly anticipated longlist for the 2025 Nonfiction Award, featuring major literary names like Margaret Atwood and Arundhati Roy among the 10 selected titles, per bookriot.com.
The NBCC, an organisation of over 700 book review editors and critics, has been a central force in advancing national literary discussion since 1974. Its annual awards are one of the most prestigious honours in the publishing world. Following the introduction of longlists last year, the NBCC continues the tradition this week by unveiling its initial selections across six core categories: Criticism, Fiction, Autobiography, Biography, Poetry and Nonfiction.
Today’s Nonfiction longlist announcement includes several books that have already garnered significant attention on ‘best of’ lists this year, alongside other compelling titles seeking wider acclaim.
The 2025 National Book Critics Circle Nonfiction Longlist:
* Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood
* The Broken King by Michael Thomas
* I’ll Tell You When I’m Home by Hala Alyan
* Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
* Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
* Paper Girl by Beth Macy
* Shattered by Hanif Kureishi
* Things In Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li
* A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews
* Twice Born: Finding My Father in the Margins of Biography by Hester Kaplan
The organisation also grants the John Leonard Prize for best debut book and the Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize each year. The Fiction and Criticism longlists were announced yesterday, with the remaining categories to be revealed throughout the week.
The National Book Critics Circle Award winners will be shared at a ceremony on March 26, 2026.
