Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Fiction. These ten titles were selected from a pool of 451 books submitted for consideration by their publishers. This year’s judges for Fiction are Matt Bell, Caro De Robertis (Chair), Danielle King, Akhil Sharma, and Diane Wilson.
The finalists in all categories will be announced on Tuesday, October 6, and the winners revealed at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony on November 18.
In the meantime, here’s the 2026 Fiction longlist:
Hannah Lillith Assadi, Paradiso 17
Knopf / Penguin Random House
Kimberly Blaeser, Red Ants
Counterpoint Press
Edwidge Danticat, Dèy
Knopf / Penguin Random House
Julián Delgado Lopera, Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You
Liveright / W. W. Norton & Company
Louise Erdrich, Python’s Kiss
Harper / HarperCollins Publishers
Marlon James, The Disappearers
Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House
Valeria Luiselli, Beginning Middle End
Knopf / Penguin Random House
Alexander Maksik, Passengers
Europa Editions
Kenan Orhan, The Renovation
Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers
Morgan Thomas, Mad Eden
MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers