2026 National Book Award for Fiction Longlist: 10 Books to Know

The National Book Foundation has announced the 10-book longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Fiction, offering an eclectic selection of novels and story collections that move across countries, generations, genres, and literary traditions.

The longlist includes two debut novels and brings together writers with substantial histories of literary recognition alongside newer voices. Several authors have previously been honored by the National Book Foundation, including Louise Erdrich, Edwidge Danticat, Marlon James, Valeria Luiselli, Hannah Lillith Assadi, and Kimberly Blaeser.

Taken as a whole, the 2026 longlist is preoccupied with questions of belonging, displacement, family, memory, grief, identity, violence, and the relationship between people and the places they inhabit. The books approach those subjects in markedly different ways, ranging from historical and literary fiction to speculative storytelling, horror, crime, and stories that deliberately resist easy genre classification.

Here is a closer look at all 10 longlisted titles.

Paradiso 17 by Hannah Lillith Assadi

Assadi follows Sufien, a Palestinian displaced during the 1948 Nakba, as he searches for a sense of home across Kuwait, Italy, and the United States. Told from his deathbed, the novel explores exile, memory, family, and belonging.

Red Ants by Kimberly Blaeser

This debut story collection follows contemporary Anishinaabe characters while mixing everyday life with humor, horror, and supernatural elements. Blaeser explores technology, family, displacement, and Indigenous identity.

Dèy by Edwidge Danticat

Magnolia, a Haitian American living in Miami, struggles to process surviving a mass shooting. Her story becomes an exploration of grief, immigration, family, and the different forms of violence that shape people's lives.

Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You by Julián Delgado Lopera

Set in 1990s Bogotá, the novel follows a father and daughter dealing with the death of the mother. As the daughter investigates her family's past, the story explores queer identity, secrecy, violence, and loss.

Python's Kiss by Louise Erdrich

Erdrich's story collection brings together an unusual cast of human, animal, and supernatural characters. The interconnected stories explore ancestry, relationships, mortality, and the ties between people and the land.

The Disappearers by Marlon James

Set in 1988 Kingston, Jamaica, the novel follows the aftermath of a violent attack on a group of gay men. Combining crime fiction with historical and social commentary, James examines violence, desire, erasure, and the early AIDS epidemic.

Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli

A mother and daughter travel to Sicily following the mother's divorce. Their journey forces them to confront family history, inheritance, aging, and the stories passed from one generation to the next.

Passengers by Alexander Maksik

A father and daughter become stranded together at an airport, giving them little choice but to confront years of emotional tension. The novel examines family, aging, love, and unresolved wounds.

The Renovation by Kenan Orhan

A Turkish woman living in Italy cares for her dying father while trying to build a new life. When her bathroom begins transforming into a Turkish prison, the surreal situation becomes a meditation on migration, memory, and home.

Mad Eden by Morgan Thomas

Ro, a transgender healthcare worker living in rural Florida, navigates an autism diagnosis and an increasingly hostile world. Blending reality with an online fantasy story, the debut novel explores identity, care, connection, and the search for joy.

The National Book Foundation received 451 submissions for this year's Fiction award. The five finalists will be announced on October 6, with the winner to be revealed at the National Book Awards ceremony on November 18.