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The finalists for this year's National Book Awards have been announced. Among the 25 nominees are novelists 

The winners of each category will be announced on Nov. 19 at an event in New York City. Also being honored are two lifetime achievement winners: author and Syracuse University professor 

 and author, cultural critic and Rutgers University-New Brunswick professor 

Nine of this year's nominees have received previous recognitions from the National Book Foundation, the organization behind the National Book Awards. Alameddine is a previous finalist for his 2014 novel “

,” while Majumdar was longlisted in 2020 for her debut novel, A Burning. Poet Patricia Smith was a finalist in 2008 for her collection “

Danish author Solvej Balle was longlisted for the translated literature prize in 2024, along with her translator Barbara J. Haveland. Authors Kyle Lukoff, Amber McBride and Ibi Zoboi are all previous finalists in the young people's literature category. Fiction authors Karen Russell and Bryan Washington are previous winners of the organization's 5 Under 25 honors.

A Minnesota connection to the National Book Awards

All of this year's nonfiction finalists are first-time honorees in these prizes.

The ceremony will be streamed on the National Book Awards' 

, “The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)”

, “North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther”

, “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This”

, “Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy”

, “Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care”

, “When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World”

The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems”

On the Calculation of Volume (Book III).” Translated by 

, “We Are Green and Trembling.” Translated by 

, “The Remembered Soldier.” Translated by

, “We Computers: A Ghazal Novel.” Translated by 

, “The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story” 

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Anastasia Tsioulcas

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This year's short list features novelists Rabih Alameddine and Megha Majumdar as well as five first-time nominees for nonfiction, including journalists Omar El Akkad and Julia Ioffe.

Here are the finalists for the 2025 National Book Awards

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