UofC CLEANS UP in Critics Circle Nominations
Three authors associated with the university are nominated for the prestigious literary award.
January 26, 2010
The nominations for the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced Saturday evening, and there are more than a couple authors among them associated with the University of Chicago.
Bonnie Jo Campbell (B.A. '84) is nominated in the Fiction category for her novel American Salvage. She was also a finalist for the National Book Award. (A quick act of self promotion: The Chicago Maroon conducted an interview with her last November.)
Div School professor Wendy Doniger is nominated in the General Non-fiction category for The Hindus: An Alternative History.
Finally, recent Poem Present guest Rae Armantrout is nominated in the Poetry category for her collection Versed. (The Maroon did an interview with her too!) Rae was also a National Book Award finalist.
Most newspapers have just reported the nominees, but Bloomberg has a nice little introduction explaining a couple of the books nominated (None of the above were mentioned) and describing the nomination and selection process.
"Nominees and winners are chosen by the group’s 22-member board of directors, which includes Bloomberg book editor Laurie Muchnick, staffers from the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Publishers Weekly and other newspapers, and a number of freelance critics and bloggers. Though not accompanied by a monetary prize, the NBCC awards are well-respected in the literary world."
Looks like Chicago has even invaded the judging panel! Winners will be announced March 12.
