National Book Award finalists announced

The National Book Foundation has announced the finalists for this year’s National Book Awards, featuring five nominees across five competitive categories. Notable fiction finalists include Edwidge Danticat for ‘Dèy’, Valeria Luiselli for ‘Beginning Middle End’, and Karl Ove Knausgaard for ‘The School of Night’ in the translation category.

The selected works address diverse themes such as gender identity, criminal justice, and the Middle East. Specific titles include Hannah Lillith Assadi’s ‘Paradiso 17’, Julián Delgado Lopera’s ‘Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You’, and Morgan Thomas’ ‘Mad Eden’. The announcement noted the omission of Marlon James’ ‘The Disappearers’ from the final list.

Winners will each receive $10,000 and will be announced at a ceremony in Manhattan on November 18. Salman Rushdie and Perri Klass are set to receive honorary medals.