my name is greg barrios and it's been my privilege to serve as this year's balakian chair. the nbbc award the citation for excellence in reviewing each year to recognize outstanding work by a member of the nbcc. the citation is awarded in honor of nona balakian a founding member of the national book critics circle. for the third time in it's 28 year history the balakian citation carries with it a thousand dollars cash prize. generously endowed by nbcc member greg barrios. [applause] >> by coincidence, the number of entries for this award has increased over the past three years. and i'm pleased to give a shoutout for this year's finalists. they are charles finch, b.k. fisher benjamin moser and lisa rust-sparr. could we have a round of applause? [applause] >> thank you. this year's recipient was a finalist at last year and the nona balakian citation for excellence in reviewing is given to alexandra swartz. she is as an assistant editor at the new yorker and a regular contributor to the magazine's web site. mer writing as appeared in "the nation." the "new york times" and "the