''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American

book review A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, an opinion piece, a summary review, or a scholarly view. B ...

magazine founded in 1933 by

Virginia Kirkus Virginia Kirkus (December 7, 1893 – September 10, 1980) was the founder and president of what would become ''Kirkus Reviews'' from 1933 to 1962. Before creating her service in 1933, Kirkus was a teacher in Delaware during the late 1910s. In th ...

. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual

Kirkus Prize The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine ''Kirkus Reviews''. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows annually. Three authors are awarded each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, ...

to authors of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

nonfiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...

, and young readers' literature. ''Kirkus Reviews'', published on the first and 15th of each month, previews books before their publication. ''Kirkus'' reviews over 10,000 titles per year.

History

was hired by

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship Imprint (trade name), imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper (publisher), James Harper and his brother John, the compan ...

to establish a

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

department in 1926. In 1932, the department was eliminated as an economic measure. However, within a year, Louise Raymond, the secretary Kirkus hired, had the department running again. Kirkus, however, had left and soon established her own book review service. Initially, she arranged to get

galley proofs In printing and publishing, proofs are the preliminary versions of publications meant for review by authors, editors, and proofreaders, often with extra-wide margins. Galley proofs may be uncut and unbound, or in some cases electronically tra ...

of "20 or so" books in advance of their publication; almost 80 years later, the service was receiving hundreds of books weekly and reviewing about 100. Initially titled ''Bulletin'' by Kirkus' Bookshop Service from 1933 to 1954, the title was changed to ''Bulletin from Virginia Kirkus' Service'' from January 1, 1955, issue onwards, and successively shortened to ''Virginia Kirkus' Service'' with the December 15, 1964, issue, and ''Kirkus Service'' in 1967, before it attained its current title, ''Kirkus Reviews'', with January 1, 1969, issue. In 1985, Anne Larsen was brought on as fiction editor, soon to become editor, remaining the editorial head of Kirkus until 2006 and modifying the review format and style for improved readability, concision, accuracy, and impact.

Ownership

Kirkus Reviews was sold to ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'' in 1970 and subsequently sold by the ''Review'' to Barbara Bader and Josh Rubins, who served also as the publication's editors. In 1985, magazine consultant James B. Kobak acquired ''Kirkus Reviews''. David LeBreton bought ''Kirkus'' from Kobak in 1993. BPI Communications, owned by Dutch publisher

VNU VNU may refer to: * Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen, a Dutch publishing company * Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU), a public university system in Hanoi, Vietnam * Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam National Univers ...

, bought ''Kirkus'' from LeBreton in 1999. At the end of 2009, the company announced the end of operations for ''Kirkus''. The journal was purchased from VNU (by then renamed

The Nielsen Company Nielsen Holdings plc (or Nielsen) is an American media audience measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide. For most of its history, the company was known for its two subsidiarie ...

, or Nielson N.V.) on February 10, 2010, by businessman Herbert Simon. Terms were not disclosed. The company was thereafter renamed Kirkus Media, and book industry veteran Marc Winkelman was made publisher.

Reviewing

''Kirkus Reviews'' has a traditional program of reviewing that does not require payment for reviews. ''Kirkus Reviews'' also offers an Indie program that allows book authors to purchase, but not modify or influence, reviews that the book author can choose whether or not to publish on the ''Kirkus'' website, and if published may also be published in the magazine or email newsletter based on ''Kirkus'' editor discretion.

Kirkus Prize

In 2014, ''Kirkus Reviews'' started the

, bestowing $50,000 prizes annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers' literature.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* *
Online archive
at

Issuu Issuu, Inc. (pronounced "issue") is a Danish-founded American electronic publishing platform based in Palo Alto, California, United States. The company's software converts PDFs into customizable digital publications that can be shared via links ...

(February 1, 2011 – present) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkus Reviews Book review magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1933 Semimonthly magazines English-language magazines Magazines published in New York City