Indian authors Arundhati Roy, Banu Mushtaq shortlisted for National Book Critics Circle NBCC Awards

The winners will be revealed at the NBCC Awards ceremony on March 26, 2026.Here’s the list of finalists:

Fiction

Fiction shortlist (NBCC Awards)

The fiction shortlist includes The Antidote by Karen Russell and Audition by Katie Kitamura, alongside The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy. Also nominated are On the Calculation of Volume (Book III) by Solvej Balle, translated from the Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell, and We Do Not Part by Han Kang, translated from the Korean by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris.

Nonficiton

Nonfiction shortlist (NBCC Awards)

In nonfiction, the finalists are America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin and Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins by Barbara Demick. They are joined by Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI by Karen Hao, King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution, a Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson, and No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris.

Biography

Biography shortlist (NBCC Awards)

The biography shortlist features Love, Queenie: Merle Oberon, Hollywood’s First South Asian Star by Mayukh Sen and A Perfect Turmoil: Walter E. Fernald and the Struggle to Care for America’s Disabled by Alex Green. Also nominated are Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill, Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore by Ashley D. Farmer, and Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford by Carla Kaplan.

Autobiography

Autobiography shortlist (NBCC Awards)

The autobiography finalists include Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks and Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy. The shortlist also features Paper Girl by Beth Macy, Shattered by Hanif Kureishi, and A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews.

Poetry

Poetry shortlist (NBCC Awards)

The poetry shortlist comprises Chronicle of Drifting by Yuki Tanaka, Death of the First Idea by Rickey Laurentiis and Night Watch by Kevin Young. Completing the category are The Other Love by Henri Cole and Unravel by Tolu Oloruntoba.

Criticism

Criticism shortlist (NBCC Awards)

In criticism, the nominated titles are Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue by Yoko Tawada, translated from the Japanese by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda; Greyhound by Joanna Pocock; Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right by Quinn Slobodian; One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad; and To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other by Viet Thanh Nguyen.

John Leonard Prize

John Leonard Prize shortlist (NBCC Awards)

The John Leonard Prize shortlist includes Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs and Crown by Evanthia Bromiley. Also nominated are Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton; Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist by Liz Pelly; Salvage by Hedgie Choi; and The Slip by Lucas Schaefer.

Gregg Barios Book in Translation

Gregg Barios Book in Translation shortlist (NBCC Awards)

The finalists for the Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Award include Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue by Yoko Tawada, translated from the Japanese by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda, and Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from the Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi. They are joined by Near Distance by Hanna Stoltenberg, translated from the Norwegian by Wendy H. Gabrielsen; Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno, translated from the French by Natasha Lehrer; The Frog in the Throat by Markus Werner, translated from the German by Michael Hofmann; and The Wax Child by Olga Ravn, translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken.