The National Book Awards 2025

The winners of the 2025 National Book Award in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature and Young People's Literature were announced on November 19th at the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony.

Two lifetime achievement awards also were presented as part of the evening’s ceremony. Roxane Gay, whose books include the essay collection BAD FEMINIST and the memoir HUNGER, received the National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. And George Saunders, who won the 2017 Booker Prize for LINCOLN IN THE BARDO, was recognized with the Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

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Thomas Schlesser, author of Mona's Eyes

While the doctors can find no explanation for Mona's brief episode of blindness, they agree that the threat of permanent vision loss cannot be ruled out. The girl's grandfather, Henry, may not be able to stop his granddaughter from losing her sight, but he can fill the encroaching darkness with beauty. Every Wednesday for a year, the pair abscond together and visit a single masterpiece in one of Paris's renowned museums. From Botticelli to Basquiat, Mona learns how each artist's work shaped the world around them. In turn, the young girl's world is changed forever by the power of their art. Under the kind and careful tutelage of her grandfather, Mona learns the true meaning of generosity, melancholy, love, loss and revolution.

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Brisa Carleton, author of Last Call at the Savoy

Six years ago, Cinnamon Scott was a young writer on the rise in New York City. But since the sudden loss of her parents, she's been stuck in place. Despite their tragic loss, she and her older sister, Rosemary, have always had each other to lean on. But now, with Rosie living in London and about to give birth to twins, Cinnamon feels more lost than ever. When Rosie is put on bed rest, Cinnamon flies to her sister's side, where she's temporarily living at The Savoy. She’s immediately swept away by the beauty and history of the legendary hotel and its famed American Bar. When the late-shift bartender tells her the story of Ada Coleman, the woman who crafted the cocktail recipes The Savoy popularized in its famous handbook a century ago, Cinnamon is inspired by the bartender's vivid stories of Ada's fearlessness and can't understand why Ada's name is nowhere to be found.

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John Irving, author of Queen Esther

Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905. Her father dies on board the ship to Portland, Maine. Her mother is murdered by anti-Semites in Portland. Dr. Larch knows it won’t be easy to find a Jewish family to adopt Esther. In fact, he won’t find any family who’ll adopt her. When Esther is 14, soon to be a ward of the state, Dr. Larch meets the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans. The Winslows aren’t Jewish, but they despise anti-Semitism. Esther’s gratitude for the Winslows is unending. Even as she retraces her roots back to Vienna, she never stops loving and protecting the Winslows. In the final chapter, set in Jerusalem in 1981, Esther Nacht is 76.

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Ann Packer, author of Some Bright Nowhere

Eliot and his wife, Claire, have been happily married for nearly four decades. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it's time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable. Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has shifted into the role of caregiver. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered. What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days.

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