These books just nabbed one of the most coveted prizes in the literary world. How many have you read?
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If you’re forever in search of a profound new read, the National Book Awards are your Oscars. And this year’s ceremony certainly delivered. Hosted by Emmy-winning Somebody Somewhere star Jeff Hiller, the 76th National Book Awards, held Nov. 19 in New York City, crowned five of the best books of the year and celebrated the crème de la crème in literature. (So prepare to grow your to-be-read list.)
In a room packed with what he dubbed “the literati of the glitterati,” the actor joked about finding a typo on the spine of his acclaimed new memoir, Actress of a Certain Age. (It read Actress of a Cetain Age—oops!—before it was corrected.) Corinne Bailey Rae, meanwhile, delivered performances of “Put Your Records On” and “Just Like a Star” to give the famed Cipriani Wall Street a cool coffee-shop vibe.
By the end of the night, five writers had earned the coveted prize. Ready to add some of the best books of the year to your must-read list? Here are the 2025 National Book Award winners in the fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young people’s literature and translated literature categories.
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What are the National Book Awards, exactly?
The National Book Awards, hosted by the National Book Foundation, were established in 1950 and are among the most prestigious prizes in the United States. Past winners include William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Ralph Ellison, Louise Erdrich, Colson Whitehead and, in 2024, Percival Everett.
This year, the foundation says a total of 1,835 books were submitted for consideration across five categories:
- Fiction: 434
- Nonfiction: 652
- Poetry: 285
- Young People’s Literature: 325
- Translated Literature: 139
As for the National Book Awards selection process? A panel of judges—comprised of 25 distinguished writers, translators, critics, librarians and booksellers—selects a list of 10 titles per category. They then narrow it down to five finalists, from which they pick one winner in each category.
Each finalist receives a $1,000 prize, a medal and a judges’ citation. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture.
The National Book Award Winners of 2025
Here’s a rundown of the National Book Award winners by category. Some of these names may ring familiar, especially if you love top-shelf literature. But even if you’ve never heard of these titles, it’s worth checking them out the next time you visit the bookstore or library.
Fiction
Winner: The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine
Behold a comic novel about a 63-year-old gay Beirut high school teacher who lives (and often spars) with his mother in a tiny apartment. After he receives an invite to an all-expenses-paid writing residency in America, Raja recounts the experiences that forged his identity. The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) is spread across six decades—from the Lebanese Civil War to the COVID-19 pandemic—with humor and heartbreak. Kirkus Reviews raved that the book is a “sharp exploration of resilience in dark times.”
Fiction runners-up:
- A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
- The Antidote by Karen Russell
- North Sun: Or the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan Rutherford
- Palaver by Bryan Washington
Nonfiction
Winner: One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
An expansion of Omar El Akkad’s viral 2023 post on X, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This details his opinion that America and Europe are complicit in the destruction of Gaza and the Palestinian people. The Egyptian-born author and journalist argues that mass apathy toward suffering in the region is leading to fractures across Western societies. A New York Times bestseller, the book marks El Akkad’s nonfiction debut.
Nonfiction runners-up:
- Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russian, from Revolution to Autocracy by Julia Ioffe
- Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li
- Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care by Claudia Rowe
- When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World by Jordan Thomas
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Poetry
Winner: The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems by Patricia Smith
The Intentions of Thunder is a collection of Patricia Smith’s poems—told in her lyrical and meditative writing style—that explores the fullness of living in the moment despite the centuries of violence committed against Black people in America. The Chicago Sun Times called this poetry book a “gorgeous, heartbreaking evocation of her life, family and troubled nation.”
Poetry runners-up:
- The New Economy by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
- Becoming Ghost by Cathy Linh Che
- Scorched Earth by Tiana Clark
- I Do Know Some Things by Richard Siken
Young People’s Literature
Winner: The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri
The Teacher of Nomad Land, Daniel Nayeri’s middle-grade historical fiction book about two Iranian siblings in a race for survival during World War II, highlights the power of cross-cultural understanding. During his speech, Nayeri spoke about his own luck in survival with his family’s asylum-seeking journey in the U.S.
Young People’s Literature runners-up:
- A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff
- The Leaving Room by Amber McBride
- Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr
- (S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi
Translated Literature
Winner: We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Camara (translated by Robin Myers)
We Are Green and Trembling is based, in part, on real-life 17th-century Spanish explorer Antonio de Erauso, who was raised in a Basque convent and fled to the New World during the Spanish conquest. The novel examines gender identity (de Erauso was born a woman and lived as a man), religion and the intrinsic violence of colonialism.
Translated Literature runners-up:
- On the Calculation of Volume (Book III) by Solvej Balle (translated by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell)
- The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje (translated by David McKay)
- We Computers: A Ghazal Novel by Hamid Ismailov (translated by Shelley Fairweather-Vega)
- Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno (translated by Natasha Lehrer)
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Sources:
- National Book Foundation: “76th National Book Award Finalists”
- Kirkus Reviews: “The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)”
- Chicago Sun Times: “Patricia Smith, a Chicago poet ‘who writes screams'”
