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Here Are The Finalists For The 2019 National Book Awards

By Colin Dwyer
Published October 8, 2019 at 10:40 AM EDT
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.
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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.

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, Crossing
    Translated 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

    • Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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    Colin Dwyer
    Colin Dwyer covers breaking news for NPR. He reports on a wide array of subjects — from politics in Latin America and the Middle East, to the latest developments in sports and scientific research.
    See stories by Colin Dwyer