Finalists announced for the 2025 U.S. National Book Awards

The winners will be announced live on November 19 at the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze medal, while finalists receive $1,000.

Nine of the nominated authors have been previously recognized by the National Book Foundation, while all finalists in the Nonfiction category are first-time honorees.

In Fiction, the finalists include:

Rabih Alameddine - The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)

Megha Majumdar - A Guardian and a Thief

Karen Russell - The Antidote

Ethan Rutherford - North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther

Bryan Washington - Palaver

The novels span different geographies and eras, from Lebanon’s civil conflict and climate-stricken India to Depression-era America and modern Tokyo, exploring themes of memory, survival, and reconciliation.

In Nonfiction, the finalists include:

Omar El Akkad – One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

Julia Ioffe – Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy

Yiyun Li – Things in Nature Merely Grow

Claudia Rowe – Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care

Jordan Thomas – When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World

These works explore a wide range of urgent issues, from Gaza and global apathy to the legacy of Russian feminism, the foster care system, personal grief, and the climate crisis.

In Poetry, the finalists include:

Gabrielle Calvocoressi – The New Economy

Cathy Linh Che – Becoming Ghost

Tiana Clark – Scorched Earth

Richard Siken – I Do Know Some Things

Patricia Smith – The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems

Their works engage with identity, memory, and resilience through personal and political lenses.

In Young People’s Literature, the finalists include:

Kyle Lukoff – A World Worth Saving

Amber McBride – The Leaving Room

Daniel Nayeri – The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story

Hannah V. Sawyerr – Truth Is

Ibi Zoboi – (S)Kin

Their books explore themes of self-discovery, belonging, and the power of storytelling across identity, history, and imagination.

Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported that the UK published 2025 Booker Prize shortlist.