Here Are The Finalists For The 2019 National Book Awards

By Colin Dwyer / NPR

Published October 8, 2019 at 4:40 AM PDT

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

Twenty-five books remain in consideration for the five National Book Awards that will be doled out Nov. 20 in New York City. Among the names to be found on the 2019 shortlists: Marlon James, Susan Choi, Jason Reynolds, Carolyn Forche and Laila Lalami, among others.

Just 25 books can still be called contenders for the 2019 National Book Awards.

The National Book Foundation on Tuesday unveiled the finalists, listing five books each in five categories. And while there are some readily recognizable names among the remaining authors — some with past shortlist appearances and other literary prizes already under their belt — none of them has taken home a National Book Award in these categories before.

That means Edmund White, who has already been announced as winner of this year's lifetime achievement award, will be joined by a host of newcomers when it comes time for the recipients to be announced on Nov. 20 at a ritzy ceremony in New York City.

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You'll find the finalists' names below, along with links to NPR's previous coverage where available, by scrolling down or simply jumping to a category.

Fiction

Susan Choi, Trust Exercise
Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Sabrina & Corina: Stories
Marlon James, Black Leopard, Red Wolf
Laila Lalami, The Other Americans
Julia Phillips, Disappearing Earth

Nonfiction

Sarah M. Broom, The Yellow House
Tressie McMillan Cottom, Thick: And Other Essays
Carolyn Forché, What You Have Heard is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance
David Treuer, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present
Albert Woodfox with Leslie George, Solitary

Poetry

Jericho Brown, The Tradition
Toi Derricotte, "I": New and Selected Poems
Ilya Kaminsky, Deaf Republic
Carmen Giménez Smith, Be Recorder
Arthur Sze, Sight Lines

Translated literature

Khaled Khalifa, Death Is Hard Work Translated from Arabic by Leri Price
László Krasznahorkai, Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming Translated from Hungarian by Ottilie Mulzet
Scholastique Mukasonga, The Barefoot Woman Translated from French by Jordan Stump
Yoko Ogawa, The Memory Police Translated from Japanese by Stephen Snyder
Pajtim Statovci, CrossingTranslated from Finnish by David Hackston

Young people's literature

Akwaeke Emezi, Pet
Jason Reynolds, Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Randy Ribay, Patron Saints of Nothing
Laura Ruby, Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
Martin W. Sandler, 1919: The Year That Changed America