Just a few weeks after the National Book Awards longlist was announced, the National Book Foundation has now winnowed the honorees down to a killer slate of 25 finalists. In the five categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature, we see a fine blend of authors both established and emerging. Some of the year’s biggest titles are eligible for this highest honor, while some of the year’s most underrated gems are at last receiving the pomp and circumstance they deserve.
We’ll find out the winners on November 17, when the National Book Foundation transports its usual star-studded literary gala to the virtual ether. (Winners will receive $10,000, a bronze medal, and a statue, while finalists will each receive $1,000 and a bronze medal.) Last year, the event went remote for the first time ever, and while were high for a return to the in-person gala this year, in September, the National Book Foundation scrapped its plan to gather in Manhattan.
The jury’s out on who will win in the five main categories, but we do know one thing for sure: the Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award (the National Book Awards’ lifetime achievement prize) will be given to Karen Tei Yamashita, author of the Esquire Book Club pick Sansei & Sensibility. Read on for the full breakdown of the 25 finalists, and start making your predictions of who will take home the top prizes.
Fiction
Clock Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
Matrix, by Lauren Groff
Zorrie, by Laird Hunt
The Prophets, by Robert Jones, Jr.
Hell of a Book, by Jason Mott
Nonfiction
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance, by Hanif Abdurraqib
Running Out: In Search of Water on the High Plains, by Lucas Bessire
Tastes Like War: A Memoir, by Grace M. Cho
Covered With Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America, by Nicole Eustace
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, by Tiya Miles
Poetry
What Noise Against the Cane, by Desiree C. Bailey
Floaters, by Martín Espada
Sho, by Douglas Kearney
A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure, by Hoa Nguyen
The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us From the Void, by Jackie Wang
Translated Literature
Winter in Sokcho, by Elisa Shua Dusapin, translated from the French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins
Peach Blossom Paradise, by Ge Fei, translated from the Chinese by Canaan Morse
The Twilight Zone, by Nona Fernández, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer
When We Cease to Understand the World, by Benjamín Labatut, translated from the Spanish by Adrian Nathan West
Planet of Clay, by Samar Yazbek, translated from the Arabic by Leri Price
Young People’s Literature
The Legend of Auntie Po, by Shing Yin Khor
Last Night at the Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo
Too Bright to See, by Kyle Lukoff
Revolution In Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People, by Kekla Magoon
Me (Moth), by Amber McBride
Adrienne WestenfeldAssistant EditorAdrienne Westenfeld is a writer and editor at Esquire, where she covers books and culture.
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