The winners of the 2025 National Book Award were announced on November 19th at the 76th National Book Award Ceremony, hosted by actor Jeff Hiller, with musical guest Corinne Bailey Rae. Out of the 1,835 submissions and twenty-five finalists, only five titles received the award for their respective genres: Fiction, NonFiction, Poetry, Translated Fiction, and Young People’s Literature. The winners were introduced by five popular and well-known, book lovers: Lena Dunham, Tan France, Ira Glass, Dakota Johnson, and Laufey.
Additional awards were given out at the ceremony, recognizing writers for their contributions to the larger literary community. Roxane Gay was awarded the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, presented by Jacqueline Woodson, and Deborah Treisman presented George Saunders with the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
Winner for Fiction: Rabih Alameddine, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)
Published by Grove Press / Grove Atlantic
Winner for Nonfiction: Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Published by Knopf / Penguin Random House
Winner for Poetry: Patricia Smith, The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems
Published by Scribner / Simon & Schuster
Winner for Translated Literature: Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, We Are Green and Trembling
Translated from the Spanish by Robin Myers
Published by New Directions Publishing
Winner for Young People’s Literature: Daniel Nayeri, The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story
Published by Levine Querido
