National Book Awards Announces 2024 Finalists and First-Time Honorees — See the List!

Mar. 15, 2025

A selection of National Book Award finalists.

The National Book Awards hasannouncedits 25 finalists!

The authors — a majority of whom will be first-time honorees — were announced withThe New York Timeson Tuesday, Oct. 1, and were selected from a distinguished panel of judges from a longlist published in September withThe New Yorker, according to a press release.

The finalists in the fiction category include authors ’Pemi Aguda and Kaveh Akbar who each made their debut withGhostrootsandMartyr!, respectively.

The finalists for the nonfiction category are: Jason De León forSoldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling, Eliza Griswold forCircle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church, Kate Manne forUnshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia, Salman Rushdie forKnife: Meditations After an Attempted Murderand Deborah Jackson Taffa forWhiskey Tender.

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The finalists for young people’s literature, who will go on to connect with middle and high school students for Teens Read the 2024 National Book Awards on Nov. 19, include Violet Duncan forBuffalo Dreamer, Josh Galarza forThe Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky, Erin Entrada Kelly forThe First State of Being, Shifa Saltagi Safadi forKareem Betweenand Angela Shanté forThe Unboxing of a Black Girl.

The finalists for the translated literature category features the return of Leri Price and Samar Yazbek, who were finalists in 2021 forPlanet of Clay. Bothayna Al-Essa and Linnea Axelsson are also honored in this category for their respective translations ofThe Book Censor’s LibraryandÆdnan.Fiston Mwanza Mujila is also being honored forThe Villain’s Danceand Yáng Shuāng-zǐ is honored forTaiwan Travelogue.

They will gather again the following night at the 75th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, where the winners will be announced. Winners will receive $10,000, along with a bronze medal and statue while finalists will receive $1,000 and a bronze medal.

The ceremony will also honor Pulitzer Prize-winning authorBarbara Kingsolverwith the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters whileW. Paul Coates, publisher and founder of Black Classic Press, will be honored with the Foundation’s Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.

source: people.com