2023 National Book Award winners announced

Music’s got the Grammys. Movies, the Oscars. So, where do you go for the best in books? Since 1950, the National Book Foundation has recognized American authors who’ve published an exceptional work in the past year with a mission to “celebrate the best literature published in the United States, expand its audience and ensure that books have a prominent place in our culture.”

The National Book Award winners are chosen each year by a judging panel of writers, translators, critics, librarians and booksellers who narrow down the thousands of entries received in each category. While the categories have changed over the years, the remaining include: Best Fiction, Best Nonfiction, Best Poetry, Best Translated Literature and Best Young People’s Literature. They also honor lifetime achievement, “5 authors under 35” and science + literature titles.

This year, actor, director and champion of reading LeVar Burton hosted the 74th annual ceremony in New York City on Nov. 15 along with special guest Oprah Winfrey.

Here’s a list of this year’s National Book Award winners, along with the finalists and longlisted titles available on the Libby app:

Fiction

Winner

Blackouts by Justin Torres

A reclamation of ransacked history, a celebration of defiance and a transformative encounter, Blackouts mines the stories that have been kept from us and brings them into the light.

Finalists

• Chain-Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
• Temple Folk by Aaliyah Bilal
• This Other Eden by Paul Harding
• The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen

Longlist

• Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
• Ponyboy by Eliot Duncan
• Loot by Tania James
• A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power

Nonfiction

Winner

The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History by Ned Blackhawk

Blackhawk's retelling of U.S. history acknowledges the enduring power, agency and survival of Indigenous peoples, yielding a truer account of the United States and revealing anew the varied meanings of America.

Finalists

• Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza
• Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe
• We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh
• Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant

Longlist

• King: A Life by Jonathan Eig
• The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever by Prudence Peiffer
• When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey
• A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Poetry

Winner

from unincorporated territory [åmot] by Craig Santos Perez

Through experimental and visual poetry, Perez explores how storytelling can become a symbolic form of åmot (the Chamoru word for “medicine,” commonly referring to medicinal plants), offering healing from the traumas of colonialism, militarism, migration, environmental injustice and the death of elders.

Finalists

• How to Communicate by John Lee Clark
• Suddenly We by Evie Shockley
• From From by Monica Youn

Longlist

• Vexations by Annelyse Gelman
• Promises of Gold by José Olivarez
• West: A Translation by Paisley Rekdal
• Trace Evidence by Charif Shanahan

Translated Literature

Winner

The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel, translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato

Exploring Brazil's little-known hinterland as well as its urban haunts, this is a sweeping novel of repression, violence and shame, along with their flip side: survival, endurance and the ultimate triumph of an unforgettable figure on society's margins. The Words That Remain explores the universal power of the written word and language, and how they affect all our relationships.

Finalists

• Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
• Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop, translated by Sam Taylor
• Abyss by Pilar Quintana, translated by Lisa Dillman
• On a Woman’s Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated by Lucy Scott

Longlist

• The Devil of Provinces by Juan Cardenas, translated by Lizzie Davis
• Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann
• No One Prayed Over Their Graves by Khaled Khalifa, translated by Leri Price
• The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, translated by Lara Vergnaud

Young People’s Literature

Winner

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santant

Funny, heartwarming and poignant, this feel-good coming-of-age memoir is based on the author's awkward middle school years. It celebrates a time that is universally challenging for many of us, but also life-changing as well.

Finalists

• Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow
• Huda F Cares? by Huda Fahmy
• Big by Vashti Harrison
• The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine by Katherine Marsh

Longlist

• Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
• Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick
• Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day by Dan Nott
• Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang

Celebrate the year’s best literature by reading these award winners from your library on Libby.

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