Seattle author Tae Keller is up for the nation's top literary prize for her latest book, "When Tomorrow Burns," a story of prophecies and friendship set against the backdrop of Seattle's dangerous wildfire season.
Earlier this week, the National Book Foundation announced the finalists for the 2026 National Book Awards in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature and young people's literature. Five books in each category were selected as finalists by a panel of five judges. The winners of the 2026 National Book Awards will be announced on Nov. 18.
Keller, a New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Newbery Medal and the Washington State Book Award, is a finalist in the Young People's Literature category. "When
Tomorrow Burns" is up against a number of other stories about an eight grade basketball player, a gothic mystery set on the Hawaiian islands, and a young people's history of the AIDS crisis in America. Keller's other books include "When You Trap a Tiger," "We Carry the Sun," "Jennifer Chan is Not Alone," and "The Science of Unbreakable Things."
Seven independent publishers and two university presses are among this year's finalists, according to the National Book Foundation. Winners of the National Book Award receive $10,000, a bronze medal and a statue. For translated works, the prizes are split evenly between author and translator.
According to the National Book Foundation, a total of 1,912 books were submitted for this year's awards, including 451 in the Fiction category, 727 in Nonfiction, 285 in Poetry, 159 in Translated Literature and 290 in Young People's Literature.
At the 77th National Book Awards ceremony next month, Salman Rushdie will be awarded the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters; Perri Klass will also be honored with the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.
Here's the full list of finalists for this year's National Book Awards.
National Book Award for fiction finalists
- "Paradiso 17" by Hannah Lillith Assaid
- "Dèy" by Edwidge Danticat
- "Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You" by Julián Delgado Lopera
- "Beginning Middle End" by Valeria Luiselli
- "Mad Eden" by Morgan Thomas
National Book Award for nonfiction finalists
- "The Midnight Special: The Secret Prison History of American Music" by Colin Asher
- "Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming" by Abdelrahman ElGendy
- "Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom" by Camonghne Felix
- "Mother Tongue" by Sara Nović
- "Spawning Season: An Experiment in Queer Parenthood" by Joseph Osmundson
National Book Award for poetry finalists
- "Tree of Knowledge" by Victoria Chang,
- "Hide" by Carolina Ebeid
- "Still House in the Desert: An eco-contemplation" by Brenda Hillman
- "Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza" by Fady Joudah,
- "Bramble" by Susan Stewart
National Book Award for translated literature finalists
- "The School of Night" by Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken
- "Centroeuropa" by Vicente Luis Mora, translated from the Spanish by Rahul Bery
- "Night of a Thousand Hells" by Intan Paramaditha, translated from the Indonesian by Stephen J. Epstein and Tiffany Tsao
- "Pure Men" Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud
- "Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life: Voices of Survival and Witness in Gaza" by Samar Yazbek, translated from the Arabic by Leri Price
National Book Award for young people's literature finalists
- "Holloway" by Elana K. Arnold
- "When Tomorrow Burns" by Tae Keller
- "That Which Feeds Us: A Hawaiian Gothic" by Keala Kendall
- "The Fight of Our Lives: AIDS in America" by David Levithan and Gabriel Duckels,
- "Shook" by Julian Randall
When will the 2026 National Book Awards winners be announced?
The winners of the 2026 National Book Awards will be announced on Wednesdays, Nov. 18, 2026 at 5 p.m. PT. Register to watch the ceremony live at nationalbook.org/awards2026.
Zachary Fletcher is a trending news reporter with USA TODAY Network's Washington state team. Keep up with him on X (@zdfletch), BlueSky (@zfletcher.bsky.social) or reach him at zfletcher@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Seattle author named a finalist for the 2026 National Book Awards. See full list
