The National Book Foundation has announced the 2022 National Book Award longlists. Five finalists in each of the five categories—fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people's literature—will be named on October 4. The winner will be announced during the awards ceremony on November 16.

The announced longlists are as follows:

Fiction

Nonfiction

Poetry

  • Golden Ax by Rio Cortez (Penguin)
  • Look at This Blue by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke (Coffee House)
  • Still Life by Jay Hopler (McSweeney’s)
  • Punks: New & Selected Poems by John Keene (The Song Cave)
  • Balladz by Sharon Olds (Knopf)
  • Best Barbarian by Roger Reeves (Norton)
  • Mummy Eaters by Sherry Shenoda (University of Nebraska)
  • Duende by Quincy Troupe (Seven Stories)
  • As She Appears by Shelley Wong (YesYes)
  • The Rupture Tense by Jenny Xie (Graywolf)

Translated Literature

  • Ibn Arabi's Small Death by Mohammed Hasan Alwan and translated from the Arabic by William M. Hutchins (Center for Middle Eastern Studies at University of Texas-Austin)
  • A New Name: Septology VI-VII by Jon Fosse and translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls (Transit)
  • Seasons of Purgatory by Shahriar Mandanipour and translated from the Persian by Sara Khalili (Bellevue)
  • 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)
  • The Employees by Olga Ravn and translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken (New Directions)
  • Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin and translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell (Riverhead)
  • Where You Come from by Saša Stanišić and translated from the German by Damion Searls (Tin House)
  • Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada and translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani (New Directions)
  • The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk and translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft (Riverhead)

Young People’s Literature


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.