Percival Everett, Ling Ma among nominees for critics prizes

This combination of book cover images shows finalists for the National Book Critics Circle awards, from left, "Dr. No" by Percival Everett, from left, "The Rabit Hutch" by Tess Gunty, "Bliss Montage" by Ling Ma, "The Furrows" by Namwali Serpell' and An Immense World" by Ed Yong. (Graywolf/Knopf/FSG/Hogarth/Random House via AP) (Uncredited)

NEW YORK – Fiction by Percival Everett and Ling Ma, nonfiction by Annie Proulx and biographies of George Balanchine and J. Edgar Hoover are among the finalists for National Book Critics Circle awards. Former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo has won an honorary award for lifetime achievement.

Last fall's National Book Award winner for fiction, Tess Gunty's ā€œThe Rabbit Hutch,ā€ is a nominee for best first book. Other finalists announced Tuesday night include Ed Yong's ā€œAn Immense World,ā€ recently awarded a Carnegie Medal from the American Library Association, and the poetry collection ā€œMilkweed Smithereens,ā€ by Bernadette Mayer, who died in November at age 77.

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Winners will be announced March 23 during a ceremony in Manhattan. Besides Harjo's award, the NBCC also will present honorary prizes to former critics circle president Barbara Hoffert, San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore and the critic Jennifer Wilson, who writes for The Nation and The New York Times.

In fiction, nominees include Everett's novel ā€œDr. No,ā€ Ma's story collection ā€œBliss Montage,ā€ Namwali Serpell's ā€œThe Furrows,ā€ and two works in translation: Jon Fosse's ā€œA New Name: Septology VI-VII" and Mieko Kawakami's ā€œAll the Lovers in the Night.ā€

Finalists in autobiography are Jazmina Barrera's ā€œLinea Nigra: An Essay on Pregnancy and Earthquakes,ā€ Hua Hsu's ā€œStay True: A Memoir,ā€ Dorthe Nors' ā€œA Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast,ā€ Darryl Pinckney's ā€œCome Back in September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-seventh Street, Manhattanā€ and Ingrid Rojas Contreras' ā€œThe Man Who Could Move Clouds.ā€

In biography, the nominees are Beverly Gage's Hoover biography ā€œG-Man,ā€ Jennifer Homans' ā€œMr. B: George Balanchine’s 20th Century,ā€ Kerri K. Greenidge's ā€œThe Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family,ā€ Clare Mac Cumhaill's and Rachael Wiseman's ā€œMetaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Lifeā€ and Aaron Sachs' ā€œUp from the Depths: Herman Melville, Louis Mumford, and Rediscovery in Dark Times.ā€

Pulitzer Prize winner Margo Jefferson's ā€œConstructing a Nervous Systemā€ is a finalist for criticism, along with Rachel Aviv's ā€œStrangers to Ourselves,ā€ Timothy Bewes' ā€œFree Indirect: The Novel in a Postfictional Age,ā€ Peter Brooks' ā€œSeduced by Storyā€ and Alia Trabucco ZerĆ”n's ā€œWhen Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold.ā€

In nonfiction, nominees besides Yong include Proulx's environmental study ā€œFen, Bog, & Swamp,ā€ Isaac Butler's ā€œThe Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act,ā€ Kelly Lytle Hernandez's ā€œBad Mexicans: Race, Empire, and Revolution in the Borderlandsā€ and Joseph Osmundson's essay collection ā€œVirology.ā€

Meyer was a finalist in the poetry category, along with Mosab Abu Toha's ā€œThings You May Find Hidden in My Ear,ā€ Cynthia Cruz's ā€œHotel Oblivion,ā€ David Hernandez's ā€œHello I Must Be Goingā€ and Paul Hlava Ceballos' ā€œbanana.ā€

For the first time, the NBCC will award a prize for translation. The nominees are Boris Dralyuk’s translation from the Russian of Andrey Kurkov's ā€œGrey Bees,ā€ Jennifer Croft’s translation from the Polish of Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk's ā€œThe Books of Jacob,ā€ Fady Joudah’s translation from the Arabic of Maya Abu Al-Hayyat's ā€œYou Can Be the Last Leaf,ā€ Mara Faye Lethem’s translation from the Catalan of Irene SolĆ 's ā€œWhen I Sing, Mountains Dance,ā€ Christina MacSweeney’s translation from the Spanish of Barrera's ā€œLinea Nigraā€ and Mark Polizzotti’s translation from the French of Scholastique Mukasonga's ā€œKibogo.ā€

Gunty is a finalist for best debut work, along with Jessamine Chan's ā€œThe School for Good Mothers,ā€ Jonathan Escoffery's ā€œIf I Survive You,ā€ Zain Khalid's ā€œBrother Alive,ā€ Maud Newton's ā€œAncestor Trouble,ā€ Morgan Talty's ā€œNight of the Living Rezā€ and Vauhini Vara's ā€œThe Immortal King Rao.ā€

The NBCC was founded in 1974, and includes more than 600 members from around the country.


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