Celebrating Our 2026 National Book Award Longlisters
The National Book Foundation has announced the longlists for the 77th National Book Awards, with this year’s selections unveiled exclusively in The New Yorker. Since their establishment in 1950, the National Book Awards have celebrated outstanding literature published in the United States and helped connect remarkable books with readers across the country.
We’re thrilled to share that an incredible 19 Penguin Random House titles and 2 PRHPS titles have been named to the 2026 National Book Awards longlists! This year’s honors span five categories: Young People’s Literature, Translated Literature, Poetry, Nonfiction, and Fiction.
The National Book Award Finalists will be announced on October 6 exclusively in the New York Times, and the winners will be revealed live at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner on November 18. Stay tuned to OurHouse as we continue to celebrate our publishing teams, authors, and translators throughout this year’s Awards.
Warmest congratulations to everyone who played a part in bringing these books to life!
Our National Book Award Longlisters
Translated Literature
A woman’s desperate flight from an Apache raid unfolds into a sweeping tale of the Mexico–US border wars.
London. 1985. A city rife with possibility and desire. One young man who wants it all.
Young People’s Literature
An epic, action-packed space opera about a young girl on a quest for revenge that explores identity, love, and the darkest corners of space.
Three middle school students embark on a quest to find a book that may just save their lives in this spectacular novel about fate and friendship–from the Newbery Medal-winning author of WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER.
A native Hawaiian teen travels to a luxury island resort in search of her missing twin and uncovers the dark side of paradise, in this riveting supernatural thriller from New York Times bestselling author Keala Kendall..
A thoughtful, poignant look at the AIDS crisis in the United States that includes primary source interviews, history, medical research, and cultural touchpoints.
The Newbery Honor–winning author of Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All explores the way growing up, finding friends, and discovering who you are can be both awkward and empowering in this heartfelt middle school novel.
The extraordinary tale of a curious boy sent to live on the moon, the wondrous discoveries he makes, and the courage it takes to speak a truth no one wants to believe.
Poetry
Following his captivating and popular A Hundred Lovers, Hofmann’s new collection is a queer coming-of-age, tinged with myth: poems that bring us into a fever dream of antiquity and desire at its limits.
After storming the scene with Stereo(TYPE), the PEN America Award–winning poet makes his highly anticipated return—with a virtuosic sophomore collection that plunges the reader into the tenebrous realm between dreams and reality and firmly establishes him as an essential voice in American poetry.
Nonfiction
A sweeping narrative history of the U.S. government’s broken compact with its Muslim citizens, culminating in the post-9/11 era of mass surveillance and increased violence—from an award-winning New York Times Magazine journalist.
A gripping, deeply moving memoir of survival, education, and resistance by a student protestor–turned–political prisoner in post-revolution Egypt.
In this part-memoir, part-manifesto, an acclaimed poet interprets Black radical literary traditions to reimagine freedom through refusal.
Award-winning author and journalist Wil Haygood explores how the Vietnam War became a mirror for the struggle of Black Americans—fighting for freedom abroad while demanding equality at home—and a powerful lens through which to understand the racial and political divides that continue to shape American life.
The New York Times bestselling author of TRUE BIZ retraces her path out of the hearing world and into the deaf community—and seeks to understand what it means to raise children who are different from her—in this emotionally rich memoir.
Fiction
The intimate, sweeping tale of one Palestinian man’s restless search for home the world over, as the pendulum of fate swings between loss and life, grief and euphoria, regret and hope.
From the bestselling author of EVERYTHING INSIDE comes a vivid, timely story, moving from Haiti to Brooklyn to Miami, of a woman whose sense of self and family are called into question when she gets caught in a random act of violence one sunny Florida day.
From Marlon James, author of the Booker Prize–winning A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEVEN KILLINGS: the electrifying story of the murder of a gay man in 1980s Jamaica and its far-reaching consequences.
From the beloved, award-winning author of the modern classics LOST CHILDREN ARCHIVE and TELL ME HOW IT ENDS comes her most powerful and page-turning novel yet: the tale of a mother and a daughter starting over, searching for a new story.
We’d also like to congratulate our longlisted PRHPS titles!
- PURE MEN by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud (Other Press / PRHPS)
- YOUR PRESENCE IS A DANGER TO YOUR LIFE by Samar Yazbek, Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price (Other Press / PRHPS)