Does the third time’s the charm apply to prestigious literary awards? Edwidge Danticat will soon find out, as she has been named a three-time finalist for a National Book Award, which were announced on a Tuesday morning. Danticat’s novel, Dèy, centers on a woman who witnesses a violent gun attack at a Miami shopping mall. Her short story collection Krik? Krak! previously secured a finalist spot for the prize in 1995, and her book Brother, I’m Dying became a non-fiction finalist in 2007. Additional writers competing for the 2026 fiction prize include Hannah Lillith Assadi, Julián Delgado Lopera, Valeria Luiselli, and debut novelist Morgan Thomas, whose book Mad Eden presents a form-bending narrative following a patient navigator at a gender-affirming care center. In the nonfiction category, Camonghne Felix similarly blends forms with her publication Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom, which functions as both a memoir and a call to action utilizing her background as a communications strategist. Felix competes against Colin Asher, Sara Nović, Joseph Osmundson, and Abdelrahman ElGendy, whose memoir Huna details his time spent inside an Egyptian prison. Winners of the 2026 National Book Awards will be officially revealed on November 18, 2026.
Source: npr.org
