Save the date! On Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. Pacific/7 p.m. Eastern, please join us on Zoom for "Criticism 101: Book Review Fundamentals," led by Heather Scott Partington, former NBCC president and current treasurer and fiction chair.

NBCC’s Vice President/Barrios Prize and Co-Vice President/Membership interviewed Harryette Mullen about "Regaining Unconsciousness" for The Brooklyn Rail:

Read @recycledgiraffe.bsky.social’s marvelous interview of translator Hisham Matar and photographer Diana Matar, who worked together on Naguib Mahfouz’s dream book I FOUND MYSELF, in @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social chireviewofbooks.com/2025/07/25/f...

"It’s terrifying to realize that you’re no longer an authority on yourself." @recycledgiraffe.bsky.social's interview with @richard-siken.bsky.social on his new book "I Do Know Some Things" (@coppercanyonpress.bsky.social) is out now. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/08/27/a...

💕

💕

@maris.bsky.social's new collection, out from @eccobooks.bsky.social right now!

I loved talking with @maris.bsky.social about her debut (debut? how?) essay collection, which packs a wallop in a trim package (much like the author herself). You will love this book, too. Thanks to my @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social for the opportunity!

Such a joy to talk with @maidervang.bsky.social about this beautiful collection (@graywolfpress.bsky.social) for my beloved @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social.

In this last video of the day, Rebecca Makkai explains the overarching mission of our organization, and truly, how your donations help us continue our work of building a writing community. Stories Matter Foundation is truly for ANYONE who values the power of stories. buff.ly/MaO89HN

Our NEA grant was canceled. Here’s a letter from our development director about what’s happening.

So proud of our @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social and their "Read Your Resistance" initiative. Writing and Reading have always been critical components of any successful movement. chireviewofbooks.com/2025/02/13/i... @storystudiochicago.bsky.social

Such an honor to speak with Dr. Eve L. Ewing about ORIGINAL SINS for my beloved @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social.

"My hope is that people will use the book as a launchpad for community conversations, coalition-building, and hard reflection." @recycledgiraffe.bsky.social talks with Eve L. Ewing about "Original Sins" (One World)

NBCC Vice President/Barrios Book in Translation Prize @recycledgiraffe.bsky.social interviewed @antonhur.com about his novel "Toward Eternity" for @wwborders.bsky.social:

What a pleasure it was to talk with Anton Hur (@antonhur.com) about TOWARD ETERNITY (@harpercollins.bsky.social), for the great @wwborders.bsky.social (tremendous thanks to Susan Harris and @ninaperrotta.bsky.social) wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

This is simply wonderful news!

Joy! Announcing the 2024 Barrios shortlist! I'm so proud of our longlist committee & we had a spectacular time reading these books. Congratulations to the writers, translators & publishers! If you're an @bookcritics.bsky.social member in good standing, why don't you join us to determine the winner?

Check out our @bookcritics.bsky.social 2024 finalists: though my heart bleeds Barrios, so extraordinarily proud of all of our titles, and my beloved fellow board members, who are smart, intent, and so collaborative. Read these books!

Literary and arts administrator friends, do take a look at this opportunity at The Flow Chart Foundation: www.flowchartfoundation.org/interim

Squeezing in one last Substack entry for 2024, with my year in reading reflections for the year. I'm planning on returning to monthly craft essays in the new year, so more soon! Thanks for reading, as always!

And our friend Eric Liebetrau reviewed WOO WOO by the Australian novelist Ella Baxter. www.bostonglobe.com/2024/12/26/a...

#theatre new podcast episode: wherein i read scenes 1-12 from my play with songs THRUSH. open.spotify.com/show/28W8hp9...

"it feels as if the play is sitting in front of me and we are having a chat," says a colleague of mine about HUMAN INTEREST STORY. join us for an hour. on demand. with distance over time. handmade theatre/film. vimeo.com/ondemand/hum...

I really loved this episode — pretty much everything the hosts said resonated with my experiences and feelings about the election, community, activism, etc.

At @vol1brooklyn.bsky.social, I wrote about @naokan.bsky.social's fantastic new novel. www.vol1brooklyn.com/2024/12/20/r...

Honored & stunned to see Mourning a Breast listed among so many stellar titles, authors & translators 💖 This is for our beloved Xi Xi ✨

We're excited to announce the longlist for the 2024 NBCC Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize! Congratulations to all of the nominees. www.bookcritics.org/2024/12/19/2...

What an honor to run @bookcritics.bsky.social's Barrios Book in Translation Prize celebrating translators & authors! We're so proud of our 2024 longlist: a joyous cornucopia of languages, genres, publishers. Also😍& applause to our AMAZING longlist committee, a mix of member critics & board members!

It is such a beautiful experience, every year. I still can't believe that Bernadette Mayer isn't physically in this world anymore.

DAVID! Our leader!

Poetry mavens rejoice! Here is our @bookcritics.bsky.social 2024 poetry longlist, with tremendous appreciation for our terrific and deeply committed chair, @davidwoo.bsky.social!

The thrill of serving on this committee, led by my dear friend and brilliant colleague, @jolivingstone.bsky.social. What a terrific year for nonfiction...these are some of the finest of the books we read for @bookcritics.bsky.social!

Yes, it is! Kudos to @etayloretaylor.bsky.social and the entire biography team at @bookcritics.bsky.social for this longlist!

Such a fun year to read autobiography—the array of books, authors and publishers is so delightful.

Our @bookcritics.bsky.social biography longlist has been released, a committee led by my dear colleague, Elizabeth Taylor!

It was amazing to serve on this committee under the leadership of @mayleechai.bsky.social. Amazing books.

How wonderful that fully half of these books are from small presses. (In addition to us, U. of Iowa Press, @deepvellum.bsky.social, Fern Books, @beltpublishing.bsky.social all have books on the list. Shout out to @mayleechai.bsky.social and the rest of the committee. @atrubek.bsky.social

So honored to have served on this committee, led by my dear friend and @bookcritics.bsky.social colleague @mayleechai.bsky.social. Our autobiography longlist!

Check out our 2024 Fiction Longlist! Congratulations to all the authors and publishers, as well as our fiction committee, chaired by my friend and @bookcritics.bsky.social colleague, David Varno!

Check out our 2024 longlist for Criticism! Truly remarkable books from a committee led by my dear friend and @bookcritics.bsky.social colleague @jhowardrosier.bsky.social. Which ones have you read?

At the National Book Critics Circle awards ceremony in March. Today we begin announcing this year's longlists. The superb poetry longlist will be announced on Wednesday, December 18, 2 p.m. ET.

ICYMI, this week I wrote about Rivers Solomon's unsettling new novel Model Home for @reactorsff.bsky.social... reactormag.com/book-review-...

💕

Thanks to @amybrady.bsky.social for asking me to review the new Jay Rubin translation of Haruki Murakami's END OF THE WORLD AND HARD-BOILED WONDERLAND for Scientific American, a magazine my dad read throughout my childhood. So fun to get to write for it! www.scientificamerican.com/article/book...

On giving Tuesday, please do support free expression & literature, especially small presses, literary magazines & fair journalism. And if you might, do consider supporting @bookcritics.bsky.social & the work we do. Criticism matters. Art matters. People and their unique and wonderful voices, matter.

The amazing @ingridrojasc.bsky.social.

It’s @theferocity.bsky.social day. Happy birthday Saeed!

❤️