
At the 2018 National Book Awards prize ceremony, Cipriani Wall Street, New York City. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also:
US National Book Awards 2022 Longlist: Fiction
US National Book Awards 2022 Longlist: Nonfiction
US National Book Awards 2022 Longlist: Poetry
US National Book Awards 2022 Longlist: Translation
US National Book Awards 2022 Longlist: Young People’s Literature
‘Maus’ Author Art Spiegelman Honored by US National Book Foundation
ALA’s Tracie Hall Receives the National Book Award’s Literarian Award
Six of 25 Shortlisted Titles are Debuts
Publishers submitted a total 1,722 books for this year’s United States’ National Book Awards, and the shortlists released today (October 4) feature five works each.The National Book Foundation has announced that its invitation-only prize ceremony will take place on November 16, with the 73rd edition of the program returning to Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, while a broadcast is planned for those not present in person.
Two lifetime achievement awards will be presented along with the prizes for the five category winners. Those lifetime honors go to Maus author Art Spiegelman (Medal for Distinguished Contribution)—with Neil Gaiman presenting the award—and to Tracie D. Hall (the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community).
Six of the 25 shortlisted titles this year are debuts.
Five writers and one translator previously have been honored by the National Book Awards:
- Gayl Jones, a 1998 fiction finalist
- Scholastique Mukasonga, a 2019 finalist in translated literature
- Sharon Olds, shortlisted in 2002 in poetry
- David Quammen, a 2018 nonfiction longlistee
- Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani, the 2018 translated literature winners
All five of the shortlisted writers in young people’s literature are first-time National Book Award honorees.
National Book Award 2022 Finalists: Fiction
Writer | Title | Publisher / Imprint |
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 Mathews | All This Could Be Different | Penguin Random House / Viking |
Alejandro Varela | The Town of Babylon | Astra Publishing House / Astra House |
Publishers submitted a total of 463 books for the 2022 National Book Award for fiction. Our report on the longlist is here.
The jurors in fiction are Ben Fountain (chair), Brandon Hobson, Pam Houston, Dana Johnson, and Michelle Malonzo.
National Book Award 2022 Finalists: Nonfiction
Writer | Title | Publisher / Imprint |
Meghan O’Rourke | The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness | Penguin Random House / Riverhead Books |
Imani Perry | South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation | HarperCollins / Ecco |
David Quammen | Breathless: The Scientific Race To Defeat a Deadly Virus | Simon & Schuster |
Ingrid Rojas Contreras | The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir | Penguin Random House / Doubleday |
Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa | His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice | Penguin Random House / Viking Books |
Publishers submitted a total of 607 books for the 2022 National Book Award for nonfiction. Our report on the longlist is here.
The jurors in nonfiction are Carol Anderson, Melissa Febos, Thor Hanson, Janet Webster Jones, and Oscar Villalon (chair).
National Book Award 2022 Finalists: Poetry
Writer | Title | Publisher / Imprint |
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke | Look at This Blue | Coffee House Press |
John Keene | Punks: New & Selected Poems | Song Cave |
Sharon Olds | Balladz | Penguin Random House / Alfred A. Knopf |
Roger Reeves | Best Barbarian | WW Norton & Company |
Jenny Xie | The Rupture Tense | Graywolf Press |
Publishers submitted a total of 260 books for the 2022 National Book Award for poetry. Our report on the poetry longlist is here.
The jurors for poetry are Kwame Dawes (chair), Juan Felipe Herrera, Keetje Kuipers, January Gill O’Neil, and Mai Der Vang.
National Book Award 2022 Finalists: Translated Literature
Author | Title | Original Language | Translator | Publisher / Imprint |
Jon Fosse | A New Name: Septology VI-VII | Norwegian | Damion Searls | Transit Books |
Scholastique Mukasonga | Kibogo | French | Mark Polizzotti | Archipelago Books |
Mónica Ojeda | Jawbone | Spanish | Sarah Booker | Coffee House Press |
Samanta Schweblin | Seven Empty Houses | Spanish | Megan McDowell | Penguin Random House / Riverhead Books |
Yoko Tawada | Scattered All Over the Earth | Japanese | Margaret Mitsutani | New Directions |
Publishers submitted a total of 146 books for the 2022 National Book Award for translated literature. Our report on the translated literature longlist is here.
The jurors for translated literature are Nick Buzanski, Veronica Esposito, Ann Goldstein (chair), Rohan Kamicheril, and Russell Scott Valentino.
National Book Award 2022 Finalists: Young People’s Literature
Author | Title | Publisher / Imprint |
Kelly Barnhill | The Ogress and the Orphans | Workman Publishing / Algonquin Young Readers |
Sonora Reyes | The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School | HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray |
Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, Dawud Anyabwile | Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice | WW Norton |
Sabaa Tahir | All My Rage | Penguin Random House / Razorbill |
Lisa Yee | Maizy Chen’s Last Chance | Penguin Random House / Random House for Young Readers |
Publishers submitted a total of 296 books for the 2022 young people’s literature category. Our report on the young people’s literature longlist is here.
The jurors for this one are Becky Albertalli, Joseph Bruchac, Meghan Dietsche Goel, Jewell Parker Rhodes (chair), and Lilliam Rivera.
As always, the juries’ decisions are made independently of the National Book Foundation staff and board of directors. Deliberations are strictly confidential.
This is Publishing Perspectives’ 176th report on awards-related news published in the 183 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.