The 2025 National Book Awards has been announced. These annual American literary awards have been presented since 1936. The Longlist of ten titles per category, was reduced to a shortlist of five.
The 2025 Winners, who each received $10,000 and a bronze sculpture, are:
- Fiction - Rabih Alameddine, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)
- Non-Fiction - Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
- Poetry - Patricia Smith, The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems
- Translated Literature - Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, We Are Green and Trembling (Translated from Spanish by Robin Myers)
- Young People's Literature - Daniel Nayeri, The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Stor
This is an interesting selection. For the most part, these winners have not even been on my radar. The non-fiction choice of Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This is the only one I have had any interest in reading. Nevertheless, it is always good to be introduced to new writers.