''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by

Virginia Kirkus Virginia Kirkus (December 7, 1893 – September 10, 1980) was the founder and president of the Virginia Kirkus Bookshop Service from 1933 to 1962. In 1969, the service became ''Kirkus Reviews''. Before creating her service in 1933, Kirkus was a t ...

(1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. ''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 individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

, 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 to establish a children's book department in 1926. The department was eliminated as an economic measure in 1932 (for about a year), so Kirkus 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 definitive 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

It 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 i ...

'' 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, 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 is an American information, data and market measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 44,000 people worldwide. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and us ...

, or Nielson N.V.) on February 10, 2010, by businessman Herbert Simon. Terms were not disclosed. It 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.

Winners

References

Sources

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External links

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Online archive
at Issuu (February 1, 2011 – present) * * {{LCAuth, nr94005545, Virginia Kirkus, 7} Book review magazines Magazines established in 1933 Semimonthly magazines English-language magazines Magazines published in New York City Journalists from Pennsylvania