US National Book Awards 2022 Longlist: Fiction

The titles on the National Book Awards’ fiction longlist were chosen from an initial pool of 463 submitted books. Shortlists come October 4.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

The Fifth of Five Categories’ Longlists

The United States’ National Book Foundation—with a prize ceremony set for November 16—today (September 16) concludes announcing its longlists for the 2022 National Book Awards. As is its annual procedure, the foundation has spread its five categories’ longlist announcements this week across three days.

Finalists—the shortlisted entries—are all to be named October 4.

This, the final longlist provided to members of the news media is for the National Book Award for fiction. Before this fiction list, we’ve had the program’s 10-book lists in young people’s literature; translated literature, nonfiction, and poetry.

Of the 10 titles on the today’s fiction longlist, eight are debut publications.

Only one writer on this year’s list has been previously honored by the National Book Awards: Gayl Jones was a finalist for the National Book Award for fiction in 1998 for her novel, The Healing.

These longlisted authors have been recognized by other awards including the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) Award for fiction; DSC Prize for South Asian Literature; the Emmy Awards; the PEN/Hemingway Award for a debut novel; the Plimpton Prize for fiction; the Terry Southern Prize for Humor; and the Pushcart Prize.

Publishers submitted a total of 463 books for the 2022 National Book Award for fiction.

The judges in fiction are Ben Fountain (chair), Brandon Hobson, Pam Houston, Dana Johnson, and Michelle Malonzo.

Fiction 2022 Longlist

Writer	Title	Publisher / Imprint
Fatimah Asghar	When We Were Sisters	Penguin Random House / One World
Ramona Emerson	Shutter	Soho Press / Soho Crime
Jonathan Escoffery	If I Survive You	Macmillan / Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Tess Gunty	The Rabbit Hutch	Penguin Random House / Alfred A. Knopf
Gayl Jones	The Birdcatcher	Beacon Press
Jamil Jan Kochai	The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories	Penguin Random House / Viking
Sarah Thankam Mathew	All This Could Be Different	Penguin Random House / Viking
Leigh Newman	Nobody Gets Out Alive	Simon & Schuster
Marytza K. Rubio	Maria, Maria & Other Stories	WW Norton & Company / Liveright
Alejandro Varela	The Town of Babylon	Astra Publishing House / Astra House

As always, the jury’s decisions are made independently of the National Book Foundation staff and board of directors and deliberations are strictly confidential.

This is Publishing Perspectives’ 165th report on awards-related news published in the 172 days since our 2022 operations began on January 3.

National Book Awards trophies. Image: NBA

More from Publishing Perspectives on the National Book Awards in the United States is here and more on the huge field of international book awards and prizes is here. More from us on the United States’ market is here.

More from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.

About the Author

Porter Anderson

Porter Anderson is a non-resident fellow of Trends Research & Advisory, and he has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.