The National Book Foundation has announced the 25 Finalists for the 2025 National Book Awards across five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature and Young People’s Literature, per nationalbook.org. The five finalists in each category, selected by a distinguished panel of judges from the September longlists, represent a diverse range of voices, stories and publishers.
Nine of the Finalists have been previously recognised by the National Book Foundation. Notable names with past honours include Rabih Alameddine (2014 Fiction Finalist), Patricia Smith (2008 Poetry Finalist) and Young People’s Literature contenders Kyle Lukoff, Amber McBride, and Ibi Zoboi.
Intriguingly, the entire slate of Nonfiction Finalists this year are first-time National Book Award honorees, including Omar El Akkad for his debut nonfiction work on Gaza, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.
The Finalists’ books come from a strong mix of publishing houses, with eight independent publishers and one university press represented.
The nominated works tackle pressing contemporary and historical issues.
In Fiction, finalists explore themes ranging from the Lebanese Civil War (The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine) to climate change and food insecurity (A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar).
Nonfiction dives into topics like the American foster care system (Wards of the State) by Claudia Rowe, the climate crisis (When It All Burns) by Jordan Thomas, and a feminist history of modern Russia (Motherland) by Julia Ioffe.
The Poetry finalists feature new and selected works, including Patricia Smith’s decades-spanning The Intentions of Thunder and Richard Siken’s autobiographical prose poems written after a stroke.
The Translated Literature category showcases global voices, with works like Neige Sinno’s memoir and criticism on sexual abuse, Sad Tiger (Translated from the French), and Hamid Ismailov’s Uzbek-language We Computers: A Ghazal Novel.
Young People’s Literature features powerful stories for teens, including Kyle Lukoff’s blend of Jewish mythology and trans advocacy in A World Worth Saving, and Ibi Zoboi’s exploration of immigration and colourism in the novel-in-verse, (S)Kin.
The public will have several opportunities to engage with the finalists and their works in November.
Finalist Reading: On the evening of Tuesday, November 18, the 25 Finalists will read from their work at NYU Skirball. The event will be hosted by bestselling author and musician Michelle Zauner (Crying in H Mart) and will also be livestreamed.
Earlier that day, the Young People’s Literature Finalists will connect with students at Symphony Space, hosted by author Casey McQuiston (Red, White & Royal Blue).
The winners will be revealed live on Wednesday, November 19, at the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner in New York City. The ceremony will be livestreamed for readers worldwide.
Winners in each of the five categories will receive $10,000, a bronze medal and a statue.
The evening will also include the presentation of two lifetime achievement awards: George Saunders will receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and Roxane Gay will receive the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.
