Here are the 2026 National Book Awards finalists.

The National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization, announced the finalists for the 2026 National Book Awards on October 6, 2026. This annual event recognizes outstanding works of literature in five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. The winners will be revealed at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner in New York City. Each winner will receive $10,000, a bronze medal, and a statue, while all finalists will be awarded $1,000 and a bronze medal. The National Book Foundation, established to celebrate literature and reading, organizes this prestigious event to honor authors and promote literary excellence.

The Fiction category includes five finalists, each published by major literary publishers. Hannah Lillith Assadi’s Paradiso 17 is released by Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House. Edwidge Danticat’s Dèy is also published by Knopf, while Julián Delgado Lopera’s Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You comes from Liveright, a subsidiary of W. W. Norton & Company. Valeria Luiselli’s Beginning Middle End is another Knopf title, and Morgan Thomas’s Mad Eden is published by MCD, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, part of Macmillan Publishers. These works represent diverse voices and themes, showcasing the breadth of contemporary fiction.

The Nonfiction category features five finalists exploring a wide range of topics. Colin Asher’s The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music is published by W. W. Norton & Company and examines the connection between music and incarceration in the U.S. Abdelrahman ElGendy’s Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming is released by Hogarth, a Penguin Random House imprint, and recounts the author’s experiences during the Egyptian Revolution. Camonghne Felix’s Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom is published by One World, another Penguin Random House imprint, and discusses political freedom. Sara Nović’s Mother Tongue and Joseph Osmundson’s Spawning Season: An Experiment in Queer Parenthood are published by Random House and Bloomsbury Publishing, respectively.

The Poetry category includes five finalists, each offering distinct poetic styles. Victoria Chang’s Tree of Knowledge is published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, a Macmillan Publishers imprint. Carolina Ebeid’s Hide comes from Graywolf Press, while Brenda Hillman’s Still House in the Desert: An eco-contemplation is released by Wesleyan University Press. Fady Joudah’s Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza is published by Milkweed Editions, and Susan Stewart’s Bramble is released by the University of Chicago Press. These works reflect a variety of themes, from personal reflection to environmental concerns and social issues.

The Translated Literature category highlights works originally written in languages other than English, translated into English. Karl Ove Knausgaard’s The School of Night, translated from Norwegian by Martin Aitken, is published by Penguin Press. Vicente Luis Mora’s Centroeuropa, translated from Spanish by Rahul Bery, is released by Bellevue Literary Press. Intan Paramaditha’s Night of a Thousand Hells, translated from Indonesian by Stephen Epstein and Tiffany Tsao, is published by Europa Editions. Mohamed Mbougar Sarr’s Pure Men, translated from French by Lara Vergnaud, and Samar Yazbek’s Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life: Voices of Survival and Witness in Gaza, translated from Arabic by Leri Price, are both published by Other Press. These works offer global perspectives through translation.