The Los Angeles Times has awarded a set of book prizes annually since 1980. Eligibility for the 2003 prizes requires a book to have its first United States publication between January 1 and December 31, 2003. This American publication must be in English; however, English does not have to be the original language of the work. Authors may be of any nationality. They should be alive at the time of their books qualifying U.S. publication although eligibility is also extended to significant new translations of the work of deceased writers. Books by current employees of the Los Angeles Times, by current employees of Tribune Company or any of its other affiliates, by currently serving judges of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, or by immediate family members of these groups are not eligible.

The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes now have nine single-title categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller (category added in 2000), poetry, science and technology (category added in 1989), and young adult fiction (category added in 1998). In addition, the Robert Kirsch Award recognizes the body of work by a writer living in and/or writing on the American West. Art Seidenbaum, who died in 1990, was the founder of the Book Prize program as well as Times book editor from 1978 to 1985. Robert Kirsch -- novelist, editor and teacher -- had been the Los Angeles Times book critic for a generation at the time of his death in 1980.

Nominations for the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes do not begin with authors or publishers proposing their own work. Responsibility for nominating books for consideration and for naming both the finalists and the ultimate winners in the nine individual-title categories rests solely with eight panels of three judges each. (The fiction panel handles both the fiction and the first fiction categories.) Not all of these judges are, in any given year, from Los Angeles, or even from California. Most, but not all, are published writers. None is ever a current Times employee. Judges are appointed, typically, for a term of two years. Terms are usually staggered so that on most panels either one judge or two is replaced every year.

Five 2003 finalists in each of the nine single-title categories will be announced March 5, 2004. From each group of finalists, a category winner will be announced April 24, 2004. For the 2003 Robert Kirsch Award, only a winner, selected by an anonymous panel, will be announced, also on April 24, 2004.

To the author of each winning book and to the Kirsch Award recipient, the prize brings with it a citation and $1,000. The public presentation ceremony for the 2003 Book Prizes will be held in conjunction with the 2004 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

The Los Angeles Times Book Prize program has been directed since 1995 by Kenneth Turan, who was Times book editor from 1990 to 1991. He is currently the newspapers film critic.

The Los Angeles Times presents the Book Prizes and the Festival of Books as part of its many community programs promoting literacy and education to benefit people across Southern California. Additional information about the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes is available by visiting the Book Prizes website (www.latimes.com/bookprizes) or by contacting the Book Prizes Administrative Coordinator, Tom Crouch (tom.crouch@latimes.com / 800-LA TIMES, ext. 75775).