The winners of the 2025 National Book Awards were announced November 19 at the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony held in New York City. During the ceremony, two lifetime achievement awards were also presented: George Saunders was recognized with the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and Roxane Gay received the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. Following are this year’s winners:
Winner for Nonfiction
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Author: Omar El Akkad
Publisher: Knopf/Penguin Random House
Winner for Fiction
The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)
Author: Rabih Alameddine
Publisher: Grove Press/Grove Atlantic
Winner for Poetry
The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems
Author: Patricia Smith
Publisher: Scribner/Simon & Schuster
Winner for Translated Literature
We Are Green and Trembling
Author: Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
(Translated from Spanish by Robin Myers)
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
Winner for Young People’s Literature
The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story
Author: Daniel Nayeri
Publisher: Levine Querido
About The National Book Awards
The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to celebrate the best writing in the United States. Since 1989, the Awards have been overseen by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to celebrate the best literature published in the United States, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in our culture. Although other categories have been recognized in the past, the Awards currently honors the best Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature published each year.
A panel of judges selects a Longlist of ten titles per category, which is then narrowed to five Finalists, and a Winner is announced at the Awards Ceremony in the fall. Each Finalist receives a prize of $1,000, a medal, and a Judges’ citation. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture.