List of winners of the National Book Award
The following is a partial list of winners of the National Book Awards.
Current categories
Fiction
For a list of winners, as well as finalists, see: National Book Award for Fiction
Nonfiction
For a list of winners, as well as finalists, see: National Book Award for Nonfiction
| 1939 |
Elgin Earl Groseclose |
Ararat |
| 1940 |
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
Wind, Sand and Stars |
| 1950 |
Ralph L. Rusk |
Ralph Waldo Emerson (article on Ralph Waldo Emerson) |
| 1951 |
Newton Arvin |
Herman Melville (article on Herman Melville) |
| 1952 |
Rachel Carson |
The Sea Around Us |
| 1953 |
Bernard A. DeVoto |
The Course of Empire |
| 1954 |
Bruce Catton |
A Stillness at Appomattox |
| 1955 |
Joseph Wood Krutch |
The Measure of Man |
| 1956 |
Herbert Kubly |
An American in Italy |
| 1957 |
George F. Kennan |
Russia Leaves the War |
| 1958 |
Catherine Drinker Bowen |
The Lion and the Throne (article on Edward Coke) |
| 1959 |
J. Christopher Herold |
Mistress to an Age: A Life of Madame De Stael |
| 1960 |
Richard Ellmann |
James Joyce (article on James Joyce) |
| 1961 |
William L. Shirer |
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich |
| 1962 |
Lewis Mumford |
The City in History: Its Origins, its Transformations and its Prospects |
| 1963 |
Leon Edel |
Henry James, Vol. II: The Conquest of London, Henry James, Vol. III: The Middle Years |
| 1964-1983 |
(See below; award presented as "Arts and Letters")[1] |
|
| 1984 |
Robert V. Remini |
Andrew Jackson & the Course of American Democracy, 1833-1845 (article on Andrew Jackson) |
| 1985 |
J. Anthony Lukas |
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families |
| 1986 |
Barry Lopez |
Arctic Dreams |
| 1987 |
Richard Rhodes |
The Making of the Atomic Bomb |
| 1988 |
Neil Sheehan |
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam (article on John Paul Vann) |
| 1989 |
Thomas L. Friedman |
From Beirut to Jerusalem |
| 1990 |
Ron Chernow |
The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance |
| 1991 |
Orlando Patterson |
Freedom |
| 1992 |
Paul Monette |
Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story |
| 1993 |
Gore Vidal |
'United States: Essays 1952-1992' |
| 1994 |
Sherwin B. Nuland |
How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter |
| 1995 |
Tina Rosenberg |
The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism |
| 1996 |
James P. Carroll |
An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War that Came Between Us |
| 1997 |
Joseph J. Ellis |
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson |
| 1998 |
Edward Ball |
Slaves in the Family |
| 1999 |
John W. Dower |
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II |
| 2000 |
Nathaniel Philbrick |
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex |
| 2001 |
Andrew Solomon |
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression |
| 2002 |
Robert A. Caro |
Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson |
| 2003 |
Carlos Eire |
Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy |
| 2004 |
Kevin Boyle |
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age[2] |
| 2005 |
Joan Didion |
The Year of Magical Thinking |
| 2006 |
Timothy Egan |
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl |
| 2007 |
Tim Weiner |
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA |
| 2008 |
Annette Gordon-Reed |
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family |
| 2009 |
T.J. Stiles |
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt |
| 2010 |
Patti Smith |
Just Kids |
| 2011 |
Stephen Greenblatt |
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern |
Poetry
For a complete list of winners, as well as finalists, see: National Book Award for Poetry
| 1950 |
|
William Carlos Williams |
Paterson: Book III and Selected Poems |
| 1951 |
|
Wallace Stevens |
The Auroras of Autumn |
| 1952 |
|
Marianne Moore |
Collected Poems |
| 1953 |
|
Archibald MacLeish |
Collected Poems, 1917-1952 |
| 1954 |
|
Conrad Aiken |
Collected Poems |
| 1955 |
|
Wallace Stevens |
The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens |
| 1956 |
|
W. H. Auden |
The Shield of Achilles |
| 1957 |
|
Richard Wilbur |
Things of This World |
| 1958 |
|
Robert Penn Warren |
Promises: Poems, 1954-1956 |
| 1959 |
|
Theodore Roethke |
Words for the Wind |
| 1960 |
|
Robert Lowell |
Life Studies |
| 1961 |
|
Randall Jarrell |
The Woman at the Washington Zoo |
| 1962 |
|
Alan Dugan |
Poems |
| 1963 |
|
William Stafford |
Traveling Through the Dark |
| 1964 |
|
John Crowe Ransom |
Selected Poems |
| 1965 |
|
Theodore Roethke |
The Far Field |
| 1966 |
|
James Dickey |
Buckdancer's Choice |
| 1967 |
|
James Merrill |
Nights and Days |
| 1968 |
|
Robert Bly |
The Light Around the Body |
| 1969 |
|
John Berryman |
His Toy, His Dream, His Rest |
| 1970 |
|
Elizabeth Bishop |
The Complete Poems |
| 1971 |
|
Mona Van Duyn |
To See, To Take |
| 1972 |
|
Frank O'Hara |
The Collected Works of Frank O'Hara |
| 1972 |
|
Howard Moss |
Selected Poems |
| 1973 |
|
A. R. Ammons |
Collected Poems, 1951-1971 |
| 1974 |
|
Allen Ginsberg |
The Fall of America: Poems of these States, 1965-1971 |
| 1974 |
|
Adrienne Rich |
Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972 |
| 1975 |
|
Marilyn Hacker |
Presentation Piece |
| 1976 |
|
John Ashbery |
Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror |
| 1977 |
|
Richard Eberhart |
Collected Poems, 1930-1976 |
| 1978 |
|
Howard Nemerov |
The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov |
| 1979 |
|
James Merrill |
Mirabell: Book of Numbers |
| 1980 |
|
Philip Levine |
Ashes: Poems New and Old |
| 1981 |
|
Lisel Mueller |
The Need to Hold Still |
| 1982 |
|
William Bronk |
Life Supports: New and Collected Poems |
| 1983 |
|
Galway Kinnell |
Selected Poems |
| 1983 |
|
Charles Wright |
Country Music: Selected Early Poems |
| 1985 |
|
No Award |
| 1986 |
|
No Award |
| 1987 |
|
No Award |
| 1988 |
|
No Award |
| 1989 |
|
No Award |
| 1990 |
|
No Award |
| 1991 |
|
Philip Levine |
What Work Is |
| 1992 |
|
Mary Oliver |
New & Selected Poems |
| 1993 |
|
A. R. Ammons |
Garbage |
| 1994 |
|
James Tate |
A Worshipful Company of Fletchers |
| 1995 |
|
Stanley Kunitz |
Passing Through: The Later Poems |
| 1996 |
|
Hayden Carruth |
Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey |
| 1997 |
|
William Morris Meredith, Jr. |
Effort at Speech: New & Selected Poems |
| 1998 |
|
Gerald Stern |
This Time: New and Selected Poems |
| 1999 |
|
Ai |
Vice: New & Selected Poems |
| 2000 |
|
Lucille Clifton |
Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1988-2000 |
| 2001 |
|
Alan Dugan |
Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry |
| 2002 |
|
Ruth Stone |
In the Next Galaxy |
| 2003 |
|
C. K. Williams |
The Singing |
| 2004 |
|
Jean Valentine |
Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003 |
| 2005 |
|
W. S. Merwin |
Migration: New & Selected Poems |
| 2006 |
|
Nathaniel Mackey |
Splay Anthem |
| 2007 |
|
Robert Hass |
Time and Materials: Poems, 1997-2005 |
| 2008 |
|
Mark Doty |
Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems |
| 2009 |
|
Keith Waldrop |
Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy |
| 2010 |
|
Terrance Hayes |
Lighthead |
| 2011 |
|
Nikky Finney |
Head Off & Split |
Young People's Literature
For a complete list of winners, as well as finalists, see: National Book Award for Young People's Literature
Previous categories
In 1964, the categories Arts and Letters, History and Biography & Science, Philosophy and Religion categories had the addendum (Nonfiction).
In 1981, Children's Books, Fiction was called Children's Book, Fiction; and in 1983 it was called Children's Fiction.
In 1981, Children's Books, Non-fiction was called Children's Book, Nonfiction.
In 1983 Children's Books, Picture Books was called Children's Books, Picture Books.
First Novel
First Work of Fiction
Science Fiction
Mystery
Western
Original Paperback
General Nonfiction
Arts and Letters
History and Biography
History
Biography
Biography and Autobiography
Autobiography
| 1980 Hardcover |
Lauren Bacall |
Lauren Bacall by Myself |
| 1980 Paperback |
Malcolm Cowley |
And I Worked at the Writer's Trade: Chapters of Literary History 1918-1978 |
Autobiography/Biography
| 1981 Hardcover |
Justin Kaplan |
Walt Whitman |
| 1981 Paperback |
Deirdre Bair |
Samuel Beckett |
| 1982 Hardcover |
David McCullough |
Mornings on Horseback |
| 1982 Paperback |
Ronald Steel |
Walter Lippmann and the American Century |
| 1983 Hardcover |
Judith Thurman |
Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller |
| 1983 Paperback |
James R. Mellow |
Nathaniel Hawthorne in His Time |
Science, Philosophy and Religion
The Sciences
Science
Philosophy and Religion
Religion/Inspiration
Contemporary Affairs
Contemporary Thought
Current Interest
General Reference Books
Translation
Children's Literature
Children's Books
Children's Books, Fiction
Children's Books, Non-fiction
| 1981 Hardcover |
Alison Cragin Herzig & Jane Lawrence |
Mali -- Oh, Boy! Babies |
| 1982 |
Susan Bonners |
A Penguin Year |
| 1983 |
James Cross Giblin |
Chimney Sweeps |
Children's Books, Picture Books
References