Since 1980, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize currently has nine categories:

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

, current interest,

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 ...

, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991),

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, mystery/thriller (category added in 2000),

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

science and technology Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context of ...

(category added in 1989), and

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

(category added in 1998). In addition, the Robert Kirsch Award is presented annually to a living author with a substantial connection to the American West. It is named in honor of Robert Kirsch, the ''Los Angeles Times'' book critic from 1952 until his death in 1980 whose idea it was to establish the book prizes. The Book Prize program was founded by Art Seidenbaum, a ''Los Angeles Times'' book editor from 1978 to 1985. An award named for Seidenbaum was added a year after his death in 1990. Works are eligible during the year of their first US publication in English, and may be written originally in languages other than English. The author of each winning book and the Kirsch Award recipient receives a citation and $500. The prizes are presented the day before the annual ''Los Angeles Times'' Festival of Books.

Winners

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction

Biography

Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose

The ''Los Angeles Times'' – Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose has been awarded in partnership with the Christopher Isherwood Foundation since April 2017 (for 2016).

Current interest

Fiction

Graphic Novel/Comics

History

Mystery/thriller

Poetry

Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction

Science and technology

Young adult literature

Innovator's Award

Robert Kirsch Award

References

External links

Honorees by Year and Award
''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prizes. {{Los Angeles Times Book Prize Los Angeles Times Biography awards American non-fiction literary awards Mystery and detective fiction awards American poetry awards First book awards Literary awards by magazines and newspapers Awards established in 1980 1980 establishments in California English-language literary awards