2026 National Book Awards Finalists Revealed by National Book Foundation

The National Book Foundation has announced the nominees for the 2026 National Book Awards, with winners expected to be unveiled on November 18. In the fiction category, the finalists include Hannah Lillith Assadi's *Paradiso 17*, Edwidge Danticat's *Dèy*, Julián Delgado Lopera's *Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You*, Valeria Luiselli's *Beginning Middle End*, and Morgan Thomas's *Mad Eden*. Nonfiction nominees feature Colin Asher's *The Midnight Special*, Abdelrahman ElGendy's *Huna*, Camonghne Felix's *Let the Poets Govern*, Sara Nović's *Mother Tongue*, and Joseph Osmundson's *Spawning Season*. The poetry contenders are Victoria Chang's *Tree of Knowledge*, Carolina Ebeid's *Hide*, Brenda Hillman's *Still House in the Desert*, Fady Joudah's *Exhibit G*, and Susan Stewart's *Bramble*. The translated literature section showcases works by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Vicente Luis Mora, Intan Paramaditha, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, and Samar Yazbek. Finally, the Young People’s Literature finalists include Elana K. Arnold's *Holloway*, Tae Keller's *When Tomorrow Burns*, Keala Kendall's *That Which Feeds Us*, David Levithan and Gabriel Duckels's *The Fight of Our Lives*, and Julian Randall's *Shook*.