The National Book Foundation has announced the 2022 National Book Award finalists. The winner will be announced during an awards ceremony held on November 16 in New York City.
The finalists are as follows:
Fiction
- The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty (Knopf)
- The Birdcatcher by Gayl Jones (Beacon)
- The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai (Viking)
- All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews (Viking)
- The Town of Babylon by Alejandro Varela (Astra House)
Nonfiction
- The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O’Rourke (Riverhead)
- South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry (Ecco)
- Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus by David Quammen (Simon & Schuster)
- The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (Doubleday)
- His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa (Viking)
Poetry
- Look at This Blue by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (Coffee House)
- Punks: New & Selected Poems by John Keene (The Song Cave)
- Balladz by Sharon Olds (Knopf)
- Best Barbarian by Roger Reeves (Norton)
- The Rupture Tense by Jenny Xie (Graywolf)
Translated Literature
- A New Name: Septology VI-VII by Jon Fosse and translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls (Transit)
- Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga and translated from the French by Mark Polizzotti (Archipelago)
- Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda and translated from the Spanish by Sarah Booker (Coffee House)
- Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin and translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell (Riverhead)
- Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada and translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani (New Directions)
Young People’s Literature
- The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill (Algonquin)
- The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray)
- Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile (Norton Young Readers)
- All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (Razorbill)
- Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee (Random House)
A total of 463 books were submitted for the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction. The judges are Ben Fountain (chair), Brandon Hobson, Pam Houston, Dana Johnson, and Michelle Malonzo.
A total of 607 books were submitted for the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction. The judges are Oscar Villalon (chair), Carol Anderson, Melissa Febos, Thor Hanson, and Janet Webster Jones.
A total of 260 books were submitted for the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry. The judges are Kwame Dawes (chair), Juan Felipe Herrera, Keetje Kuipers, January Gill O'Neil, and Mai Der Vang.
A total of 146 books were submitted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature. The judges are Ann Goldstein (chair), Nick Buzanski, Veronica Esposito, Rohan Kamicheril, and Russell Scott Valentino.
A total of 296 books were submitted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The judges are Jewell Parker Rhodes (chair), Becky Albertalli, Joseph Bruchac, Meghan Dietsche Goel, and Lilliam Rivera.
