The U.S. National Book Award is mainly divided into four categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young people's literature. Each category is judged by a panel of five people, including a chairperson, selected by the National Book Foundation. The best five works in each category will be selected for final selection. In each category, the final winner will receive a $10,000 bonus and a bronze statue, and the other 16 nominees will each receive a $1,000 bonus and a medal.
The National Book Award was replaced by the American Book Award in 1979. After 1964, the National Book Award non-fiction awards were further divided into awards for best works in literature and art, history and biography, science, philosophy and religion. In 1965, an award for translated works was added. In 1969, the Children's Literature Award was added. In 1972, awards for the best works on contemporary affairs, contemporary thoughts, and current hot topics began to be awarded. In 1980, a further distinction was made between the best novels in hardcover and paperback editions. At the same time, in order to encourage newcomers, a debut novel award was added. From 1984, the number of awards suddenly decreased, and until now, they have basically been fixed in four categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry and youth literature.
In the spring of 1989, the award's board of directors realized the importance of reading and writing for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds, as well as the huge gap between literate and non-literate readers. Therefore, a major decision was made to establish the National Book Fund in the United States to expand the scope and influence of the award in the literary field, thereby improving the literary appreciation and cultural accomplishment of outstanding works among people across the country.
In 1999, Ha Jin won the U.S. National Book Award for his novel "Waiting", becoming the first Chinese writer to win the award.