The winners of the 2026 Kirkus Prize in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction and Young Readers’ Literature were announced on October 7th in an in-person ceremony at the Tribeca Rooftop in New York that also was livestreamed on Kirkus's YouTube channel.

Tom Beer, the editor-in-chief of Kirkus Reviews, said, “Readers can rejoice over the winners of this year’s Kirkus Prize; these are remarkably accomplished works of fiction and nonfiction that nevertheless wear their accomplishments lightly. Above all, they are unforgettable books that will engage and transform all who enter their pages.”

The Kirkus Prize was created in 2014 to celebrate the discerning, thoughtful criticism that Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large since it was founded in 1933. For more information about Kirkus Reviews and the Kirkus Prize, please click here.
 

2026 Winners

FICTION

• KIN by Tayari Jones (Knopf)

 
NONFICTION

• CATCH THE DEVIL: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast, by Pamela Colloff (Knopf)

 
YOUNG READERS’ LITERATURE

• ANGER IS ONLY A SHADOW by Elizabeth Acevedo (Quill Tree Books)
   

2026 Finalists

FICTION

• KIN by Tayari Jones (Knopf)
• THIS IS WHERE THE SERPENT LIVES by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Knopf)
• EATING ASHES written by Brenda Navarro, translated by Megan McDowell (Liveright)
• LUNA, PHOENIX, QUEEN by Julie Orringer (Knopf)
• JOHN OF JOHN by Douglas Stuart (Grove Press)
• COOL MACHINE by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

 
NONFICTION

• CATCH THE DEVIL: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast, by Pamela Colloff (Knopf)
• KEEPER OF MY KIN: Memoir of an Immigrant Daughter, by Ada Ferrer (Scribner)
• LONDON FALLING: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday)
• DEFIANCE: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, and Survival in Syria, by Loubna Mrie (Viking)
• A HYMN TO LIFE: Shame Has To Change Sides, by Gisèle Pelicot with Judith Perrignon, translated by Natasha Lehrer and Ruth Diver (Penguin Press)
• A WORLD APPEARS: A Journey into Consciousness, by Michael Pollan (Penguin Press)

 
YOUNG READERS’ LITERATURE
 
Picture Books

• NAVIGATING NIGHT written by Julie Leung, illustrated by Angie Kang (Anne Schwartz Books)
• ELECTRIC BIRDS OF POTHAKUDI written by Karthika Naïr, illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet (Tate Publishing)

Middle Grade

• THE LOVELY DARK by Matthew Fox (Union Square Kids)
• THIS IS A DOOR by Daniel Nayeri (Stonefruit Studio)

Young Adult

• ANGER IS ONLY A SHADOW by Elizabeth Acevedo (Quill Tree Books)
• WHEN IT'S YOUR TURN FOR MIDNIGHT by Blessing Musariri (Carolrhoda Lab)