The longlists for this year’s National Book Awards have been announced in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.

The finalists will be named on October 6th, followed by the announcement of the winners on November 18th at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony, which will be livestreamed for all to see. You can sign up to watch it for free by clicking here.

Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize given to writers by writers and administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. More information about the National Book Awards can be found here.
 

2026 Longlists

Fiction

• PARADISO 17 by Hannah Lillith Assadi (Knopf)
• RED ANTS by Kimberly Blaeser (Counterpoint)
• DÈY by Edwidge Danticat (Knopf)
• PRETEND YOU'RE DEAD AND I CARRY YOU by Julián Delgado Lopera (Liveright)
• PYTHON'S KISS by Louise Erdrich (Harper)
• THE DISAPPEARERS by Marlon James (Riverhead Books)
• BEGINNING MIDDLE END by Valeria Luiselli (Knopf)
• PASSENGERS by Alexander Maksik (Europa Editions)
• THE RENOVATION by Kenan Orhan (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
• MAD EDEN by Morgan Thomas (MCD)

Nonfiction

• SEASONS OF FURY: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America, by Rozina Ali (Crown)
• THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL: The Secret Prison History of American Music, by Colin Asher (W. W. Norton & Company)
• DANGEROUS, DIRTY, VIOLENT, AND YOUNG: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground, by Zayd Ayers Dohrn (W. W. Norton & Company)
• HUNA: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming, by Abdelrahman ElGendy (Hogarth)
• LET THE POETS GOVERN: A Declaration of Freedom, by Camonghne Felix (One World)
• THE WAR WITHIN A WAR: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home, by Wil Haygood (Knopf)
• MOTHER TONGUE by Sara Nović (Random House)
• SPAWNING SEASON: An Experiment in Queer Parenthood, by Joseph Osmundson (Bloomsbury Publishing)
• THE EVOLUTION OF FIRE: Essays on Crisis and Becoming, by Angela Pelster (Milkweed Editions)
• A DEAD WHITE: An Argument Against White Paint, by Wendy S. Walters (Scribner)

Poetry

• TREE OF KNOWLEDGE by Victoria Chang (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
• HIDE by Carolina Ebeid (Graywolf Press)
• STILL HOUSE IN THE DESERT: An Eco-Contemplation, by Brenda Hillman (Wesleyan University Press)
• THE BRONZE ARMS by Richie Hofmann (Knopf)
• EXHIBIT G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza, by Fady Joudah (Milkweed Editions)
• WE by Layli Long Soldier (Graywolf Press)
• PROMISE/THREAT by Jonah Mixon-Webster (Knopf)
• JOAN by Jake Rose (University of Chicago Press)
• HORSES by Jake Skeets (Milkweed Editions)
• BRAMBLE by Susan Stewart (University of Chicago Press)

Translated Literature

• MY DREADFUL BODY by Egana Djabbarova, translated from the Russian by Lisa C. Hayden (New Vessel Press)
• NOW I SURRENDER by Álvaro Enrigue, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer (Riverhead Books)
• EDEN AT DAWN by Karim Kattan, translated from the French by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Restless Books)
• THE SCHOOL OF NIGHT by Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken (Penguin Press)
• TO THE EAST OF THE EAST by Ping Lu, translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang (World Editions)
• CENTROEUROPA by Vicente Luis Mora, translated from the Spanish by Rahul Bery (Bellevue Literary Press)
• NIGHT OF A THOUSAND HELLS by Intan Paramaditha, translated from the Indonesian by Stephen Epstein and Tiffany Tsao (Europa Editions)
• PURE MEN by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud (Other Press)
• THE DISAPPEARING ACT by Maria Stepanova, translated from the Russian by Sasha Dugdale (New Directions)
• YOUR PRESENCE IS A DANGER TO YOUR LIFE: Voices of Survival and Witness in Gaza, by Samar Yazbek, translated from the Arabic by Leri Price (Other Press)

Young People’s Literature

• THE FREE VERSE SOCIETY by Delali Adjoa (Peachtree Teen)
• HOLLOWAY by Elana K. Arnold (Clarion Books)
• THE CELESTIAL SEAS by T. A. Chan (Viking Books for Young Readers)
• WHEN TOMORROW BURNS by Tae Keller (Random House Books for Young Readers)
• THAT WHICH FEEDS US: A Hawaiian Gothic, by Keala Kendall (Random House Books for Young Readers)
• THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES: AIDS in America, by David Levithan and Gabriel Duckels (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
• THE MOON WITHOUT STARS by Chanel Miller (Philomel Books)
• CLOTHES TO MAKE YOU SMILE: Patrick Kelly Designs His Dreams, by Eric Darnell Pritchard (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
• SHOOK by Julian Randall [Henry Holt and Company (BYR)]
• LIFE ON THE MOON by Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr (Knopf Books for Young Readers)