US National Book Awards Program Names Its 25 Finalists for 2022

The five winners among the US National Book Foundation’s 25 shortlisted finalists are to be named on November 16 in New York City.

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

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.

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 (Fellow, 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.