Current and historical winners of the National Book Awards, with links to further information at BookBrowse.

National Book Awards Award Winners

National Book Awards

First awarded in 1950, the National Book Awards recognize the best of American literature. The Awards are announced in November.

Current and Previous Award Winners:
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002

2019

National Book Award for Fiction:
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom

National Book Award for Poetry:
Sight Lines by Arthur Sze

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
1919 The Year That Changed America by Martin W. Sandler

National Book Award for Translated Literature:
Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming by László Krasznahorkai (author), Ottilie Mulzet (translator)
2018

National Book Award for Fiction:
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The New Negro by Jeffrey C. Stewart

National Book Award for Autobiography:
Belonging by Nora Krug

National Book Award for Poetry:
Indecency by Justin Phillip Reed

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

National Book Award for Translated Literature:
The Emissary by Yoko Tawada (author), Margaret Mitsutani (Translator)
2017

National Book Award for Fiction:
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The Future Is History by Masha Gessen

National Book Award for Poetry:
Half-light by Frank Bidart

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
Far from the Tree by Robin Benway
2016

National Book Award for Fiction:
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

National Book Award for Poetry:
The Performance of Becoming Human by Daniel Borzutzky

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
2015

National Book Award for Fiction:
Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

National Book Award for Poetry:
Voyage of the Sable Venus by Robin Coste Lewis

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
2014

National Book Award for Fiction:
Redeployment by Phil Klay

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Age of Ambition by Evan Osnos

National Book Award for Poetry:
Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
2013

National Book Award for Fiction:
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The Unwinding by George Packer

National Book Award for Poetry:
Incarnadine by Mary Szybist

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata
2012

National Book Award for Fiction:
The Round House by Louise Erdrich

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

National Book Award for Poetry:
Bewilderment by David Ferry

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
Goblin Secrets by William Alexander
2011

National Book Award for Fiction:
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt

National Book Award for Poetry:
Head Off & Split by Nikky Finney

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
2010

National Book Award for Fiction:
Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Just Kids by Patti Smith

National Book Award for Poetry:
Lighthead by Terrance Hayes

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
2009

National Book Award for Fiction:
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The First Tycoon by T.J. Stiles

National Book Award for Poetry:
Transcendental Studies by Keith Waldrop

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
Claudette Colvin by Phillip M Hoose
2008

National Book Award for Fiction:
Shadow Country (Modern Library) by Peter Matthiessen

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed

National Book Award for Poetry:
Fire to Fire by Mark Doty

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
What I Saw And How I Lied by Judy Blundell
2007

National Book Award for Fiction:
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner

National Book Award for Poetry:
Time and Materials by Robert Hass

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
2006

National Book Award for Fiction:
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation by M. T. Anderson
2005

National Book Award for Fiction:
Europe Central by William Vollman

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
2004

National Book Award for Fiction:
The News from Paraguay by Lily Tuck

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
Godless by Pete Hautman
2003

National Book Award for Fiction:
The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
The Canning Season by Polly Horvath
2002

National Book Award for Fiction:
Three Junes by Julia Glass

National Book Award for Nonfiction:
Master of the Senate by Robert Caro

National Book Award for Young People's Literature:
The House of The Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Support BookBrowse

Become a Member and discover books that entertain, engage & enlighten.

Join Now!

Award Winners

Butterfly Yellow
by Thanhha Lai, Daniel Suarez
Voted 2019 Best Young Adult Award Winner by BookBrowse Subscribers

As readers, many of us hope ...
Olive, Again
by Elizabeth Strout
Voted 2019 Best Fiction Award Winner by BookBrowse Subscribers

It's been a big year for literary ...
Solitary
by Albert Woodfox
Voted 2019 Best Debut Author Award Winner by BookBrowse Subscribers

According to statistics from ...
Becoming
by Michelle Obama
Voted 2019 Best Nonfiction Award Winner by BookBrowse Subscribers

BookBrowse hosted a Book Club ...

See Top 20 including Award Winners

Book Club

Book Jacket — Evening in Paradise
by Lucia Berlin

"Berlin's new book is a marvel, filled with deeply touching stories about lives on the fringes."—NPR
About the book
Join the discussion!

Readers Recommend

The In-Betweens
by Mira Ptacin

"A fascinating history of an American community of Spiritualists... a fabulous read."
—Elizabeth Gilbert
Reader Reviews

Win this book!

BUTTERFLY YELLOW

Winner of the BookBrowse Award for Best Young Adult Novel, and the overall highest rated book of the year!

Enter

Wordplay

The Big Holiday Wordplay

Enter Now

Books that
entertain,
engage
& enlighten

Visitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.

Join Today!

Your guide toexceptional books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.