NBCC Plans Virtual Fundraiser

The National Book Critics Circle announced plans to hold its first virtual auction from August 20-27 in an effort to raise money for its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative.

The virtual auction will be held on the fundraising platform BetterWorld.com and will feature more than 60 literary experiences and book items for supports to bid on. Among the experiences and books available are: Ask Me Anything sessions, or one on one meetings with such writers as Charles Yu and Darin Strauss, and with editors from Riverhead and other houses. In addition, the benefit auction also offers publicity and manuscript consultations with veteran editors; writing lessons; French food and book discussions; and bundles of books offered by a variety of publishers. There will also be live zoom events and appearances by many of the writers whose books are up for auction.

This is the first virtual fundraiser for the NBCC, which generally uses membership dues to supports its activities. The auction will provide much needed funded for the NBCC’s DEI committee.

NBCC Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion v-p Ruben Quesada said “One of the goals for the NBCC over the next few years is to ensure that our focus is on historically marginalized communities. We can begin to do this by creating opportunities for access and inclusion in the events and publications we sponsor, and by developing programming that specifically promotes our DEI goals. The first step, though, is funding.”