2023 National Book Award Finalists

The National Book Awards has been one of the most celebrated prizes since 1950. Below are the finalists for fiction, nonfiction, and translated  literature. Winners will be announced on November 15th.

Finalists for Fiction:

Nana Kwame Adjei-BrenyahChain-Gang All-Stars
Aaliyah BilalTemple Folk
Paul HardingThis Other Eden
Hanna PylväinenThe End of Drum-Time
Justin TorresBlackouts


Finalists for Nonfiction:

Ned BlackhawkThe Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History
Cristina Rivera GarzaLiliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice
Christina SharpeOrdinary Notes
Raja ShehadehWe Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir
John VaillantFire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World


Finalists for Translated Literature:

Bora ChungCursed Bunny | Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur
David DiopBeyond the Door of No Return | Translated from the French by Sam Taylor
Stênio GardelThe Words That Remain | Translated from the Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato
Pilar QuintanaAbyss | Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman
Astrid RoemerOn a Woman’s Madness | Translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott