Read excerpts from the 2022 National Book Award finalists.
At Lit Hub, we’ve been lucky enough to publish some excellent writing from some of the finalists for this year’s National Book Awards, the full list of which the National Book Foundation released today.
Below, you’ll find links to read writing from the finalists in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Translated Literature, mostly published at Lit Hub. You can read the full list of finalists, which includes those in Young People’s Literature, here.
Enjoy!
FICTION
Tess Gunty, The Rabbit Hutch
Alfred A. Knopf / Penguin Random House
Read an excerpt from The Rabbit Hutch here.
Gayl Jones, The Birdcatcher
Beacon Press
Read an excerpt from The Birdcatcher here.
Jamil Jan Kochai, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories
Viking Books / Penguin Random House
Listen to Jamil Jan Kochai in conversation with Mitzi Rapkin here.
Sarah Thankam Mathews, All This Could Be Different
Viking Books / Penguin Random House
Listen to Sarah Thankam Mathews read her story “Rubberdust” here.
Alejandro Varela, The Town of Babylon
Astra House / Astra Publishing House
Read an excerpt from The Town of Babylon here.
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NONFICTION
Meghan O’Rourke, The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness
Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House
Read an excerpt from The Invisible Kingdom here.
Imani Perry, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
Ecco / HarperCollins Publishers
Read an interview with Imani Perry here.
David Quammen, Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus
Simon & Schuster
Read an excerpt from Breathless here.
Ingrid Rojas Contreras, The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir
Doubleday / Penguin Random House
Listen to Ingrid Rojas Contreras in conversation with Mychal Denzel Smith here.
Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
Viking Books / Penguin Random House
Read reviews for His Name Is George Floyd here.
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POETRY
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Look at This Blue
Coffee House Press
Listen to Allison Adelle Hedge Coke read one of her poems here.
John Keene, Punks: New & Selected Poems
The Song Cave
Read a poem from Punks here.
Sharon Olds, Balladz
Alfred A. Knopf / Penguin Random House
Read a poem by Sharon Olds here.
Roger Reeves, Best Barbarian
W. W. Norton & Company
Read a poem from Best Barbarian here.
Jenny Xie, The Rupture Tense
Graywolf Press
Read a poem from The Rupture Tense here.
*
TRANSLATED LITERATURE
Jon Fosse, A New Name: Septology VI-VII
Translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
Transit Books
Read Karl Ove Knausgaard on the writing of Jon Fosse here.
Scholastique Mukasonga, Kibogo
Translated from the French by Mark Polizzotti
Archipelago Books
Read an excerpt from Kibogo here.
Mónica Ojeda, Jawbone
Translated from the Spanish by Sarah Booker
Coffee House Press
Read an interview with Mónica Ojeda and Sarah Booker here.
Samanta Schweblin, Seven Empty Houses
Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell
Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House
Read a Q&A with Samanta Schweblin here.
Yoko Tawada, Scattered All Over the Earth
Translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani
New Directions Publishing
Read an excerpt from Scattered All Over the Earth here.
