The 2025 National Book Awards Spotlight Literature’s Most Daring Voices

The 2025 National Book Award finalists are here, showcasing 25 groundbreaking titles redefining the literary landscape this year.

Erin Garvey –
Book Culture Book News Debut Authors
Image of a trophy in the middle of a stage with books on top. The trophy is surrounded by slanted gold pillars.

The literary world has spoken! The National Book Foundation has unveiled its finalist list for the 2025 National Book Awards — and this year’s lineup is stacked. Spanning fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature, the list features familiar favorites and bold new voices. Out of 1,835 total submissions from publishers, just 25 books made the cut, with five finalists in each category. The selections were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges and drawn from The New Yorker’s 2025 Longlist announced in September.

Mark your calendars on November 19 for the invitation-only 76th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, where the winners will be announced. The event will also be livestreamed by the National Book Foundation on its website, so readers everywhere can tune in and celebrate. Two literary icons, author and Syracuse University professor George Saunders and Rutgers University-New Brunswick professor Roxanne Gay, will also receive lifetime achievement honors during the ceremony.

This year’s finalists capture the energy, innovation, and emotional depth shaping today’s literary scene. From powerful debuts to established voices, these are the stories that challenge, inspire, and remind us why literature continues to matter. Now, let’s take a look at the list.

Fiction

This year’s fiction finalists invite us to a world of history, life-altering choices, rescue missions, and memories that span decades. There were 434 submissions in total for fiction, including a few authors’ second time being honored. Rabih Alameddine was also a Finalist for Fiction in 2014 for An Unnecessary Woman, Megha Majumdar was Longlisted for Fiction in 2020 for A Burning, Karen Russell in 2009 for 5 Under 35 honoree, and Bryan Washington in 2019 5 Under 35 honoree. From the sweeping odyssey of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible to the stark landscapes of North Sun and the moral tension of A Guardian and a Thief, these novels navigate love, loss, and the lasting echoes of choice.

Image featuring five fiction book covers of The True True Story of Raja Gullible by Rabih Alameddine featuring a tea cup against a teal background; North Sun by Ethan Rutherford book cover featuring a picture of a bird with a large beak against a wave and the sun; A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar featuring an orange tree against a beige background; The Antidote by Karen Russell featuring a house in the distance on a farmland with a blue and yellow spotlight sky; Palaver by Bryan Washington with a dark background featuring two vending machines under a bridge.
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Nonfiction

The finalists in the nonfiction genre are all first-time National Book Award honorees. After 652 submissions, the five books chosen blend history, feminism, loss, and ecology. From Motherland‘s exploration of womanhood and power in Russia to Things in Nature Merely Grow‘s meditation on personal loss, the category spans deeply intimate and globally resonant stories. Wards of the State and When It All Burns expose systemic and environmental crises, while One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This reflects on identity, conflict, and collective responsibility.

Image with the five nonfiction finalists book cover with ribbons above or below each title. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad featuring an all red book cover with a small shaded image of someone running and an arrow above falling towards them; Motherland by Julie Ioffe book cover with an all red background and a white object opening with a gap and the words Motherland going vertically with the "L" split by the gap; Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li with an all green book cover featuring the title on one side slightly shaded; Wards of the State by Claudia Rowe book cover with the title all behind a light shade of pink and the top half featuring a shadow of a young girl against a stone background and tiled floor; When It All Burns by Jordan Thomas book cover featuring firefighters in the background with an orange and smoky illusion.
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Poetry

This year’s poetry finalist lineup features returning honoree Patricia Smith, who was a Finalist for Poetry in 2008 for Blood Dazzler. The five selected from 285 poetry submissions include pieces on desire, childhood memories, historical suffering, radical self-love, and joy in defiance of centuries of violence. The New Economy examines the pressures and inequalities of modern life with sharp wit, while Smith’s The Intentions of Thunder combines historical reflection with the power of memory. Becoming Ghost meditates on identity and transformation, I Do Know Some Things celebrates self-discovery and intimacy, and Scorched Earth confronts systemic injustice and collective resilience. Together, these works showcase poetry’s ability to illuminate both the personal and the universal.

An image against a black background with gold accents and the five poetry book cover finalists with gold crowns above each one. The New Economy by Gabrielle Calvocoressi in a blue background and a dark image below featuring gold pillars and blue lit circles; The Intentions of Thunder by Patricia Smith featuring and African American woman looking down with bright yellow and green eyeshadow with a large blue hat on against a green wall; Becoming Ghost by Cathy Linh Che with the title and author's name on two different sides of the book cover against a white background going vertically and an image of three green leaves falling down against a blue sky background and clouds; I Do Know Some Things by Richard Silken in white handwriting against a black background and a white line between the title and author; Scorched Earth by Tiana Clark book cover of a black and white picture against a white background of mountains and people on horses as well as a women's glove.
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Translated Literature

This section includes Danish, Spanish, Dutch, Uzbek, and French translations on war, identity, religion, literary criticism, and technology. Solvej Balle was also longlisted for Translated Literature in 2024 for On the Calculation of Volume (Book I), translated from the Danish by Barbara J. Haveland. In On the Calculation of Volume (Book III), Balle continues her philosophical exploration of knowledge and human curiosity, while Gabriela Cabezón Cámara’s We Are Green Trembling blends magical realism with social and environmental consciousness. Enjet Daanje’s The Remembered Soldier reflects on memory and the lingering effects of conflict, We Computers: A Ghazal Novel experiments with form and technology, and Sad Tiger interrogates personal and political identity. These works highlight the diversity and inventiveness of contemporary world literature.

Black background with gold accents featuring the five book covers from the translated language finalists category. On the Calculation of Volume (Book III) by Solvej Balle with the title in a large white circle featuring a gradient background of yellow to blue and a more intense gradient ring in the middle of the title; We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezon Camara book cover with a large green leaf with two empty slits for eyes against a light pink background; The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje featuring a green background with a hand holding a broken image of a soldier moving forward; We Computers by Hamid Islmailov featuring a man sitting down in a robe looking sad and holding a closed book with his head in a graphic of a bright pink computer; Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno against a yellow background featuring a graphic of a pink tiger holding a girl on its back.
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Young People’s Literature

Returning to the list in hopes of receiving another award in Young Literature are Kyle Lukoff, Amber McBride, and Ibi Zoboi. Lukoff was a Finalist in 2021 for Too Bright to See, McBride was a Finalist in 2021 for Me (Moth), and Zoboi was a Finalist in 2017 for American Street. In A World Worth Saving, Lukoff addresses resilience and hope in the face of societal challenges, while Daniel Nayeri’s The Teacher of Nomad Land explores immigration, belonging, and mentorship. The Leaving Room blends memory and love, Truth Is and (S)Kin confronts identity, colorism, and courage. These books each illuminate how young protagonists navigate personal and societal challenges, offering stories that inspire empathy, reflection, and courage.

Black background with gold streaks as a spotlight and trophies on each of the five book covers for the young people's literature category. A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff featuring a young man running against an illusion of a blue road sweeping up and a blue designed pillar going above and around him; The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri featuring two people with bags walking forward volcanos, tornadoes, and planes in the sky; The Leaving Room by Amber McBride featuring a woman looking up with beads in her large bun and flowers on her body against a swirly sky; Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr with a large microphone, plus sign, bus, and girl singing all layere din the middle with a red circle and various shades of a green background; (S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi with two women chest up looking forward in the middle against a firey flame background and the title in large letters right below.
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There you have it! 25 amazing books, five from each category, and all vying for one of the biggest honors in American literature. Only some will win an award, but all deserve a spot on your TBR (to be read) list. Start reading, get inspired, and join the conversation as we celebrate the best of 2025’s writing.

Check out some other past National Book Award winners by clicking here.

Click here to browse our bookshelf at Bookshop.org for more newly released books.

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