We are pleased to announce the new board members of the National Book Critics Circle. The 24 member board sees 8 members rotate off each year and new members are elected to fill those places. This year, 26 candidates stood for election — thanks to all who participated, and to the membership for voting.
The new members will join the board in March 2020, after the 2019 awards, and will serve until 2023.
Here, in alphabetical order, are the nine new or re-elected members of the board. (Because former president Kate Tuttle will be stepping down after this year’s term, we are welcoming the top nine vote-getters rather than the usual eight.) Congratulations to all.
Jacob Appel is a writer, teacher and critic whose focus is on independent presses. He joins the board for the first time.
Colette Bancroft is the book editor of the Tampa Bay Times in Tampa, Florida and a veteran of the NBCC.
Jane Ciabattari is a book columnist based in Northern California. A former president of the NBCC, she has served in many capacities at the organization.
Lori Feathers returns to the board for a second term. She is a freelance book critic and co-owner of Interabang Books in Dallas, Texas.
Megan Labrise, editor at large for Kirkus Reviews, is a writer and critic based in Portland, Oregon. She joins the board for the first time.
Jessica Loudis returns to the board for a second term. She is an editor and writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the London Review of Books and elsewhere.
John McWhorter returns to the board for a second term. He teaches at Columbia University and writes for Time, CNN and the Atlantic and has a podcast at Slate.
Connie Ogle is on staff at the Miami Herald, where she was books editor. She joins the board for the first time.
Richard Santos is a critic and teacher in Austin, Texas. His debut novel will be published in 2020 by Arte Publico Press, and he joins the board for the first time.