2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature Longlist Announced

This year's Longlist features ten titles originally published in seven languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Indonesian, Norwegian, Russian, and Spanish. Among the titles are nine novels and one nonfiction work. Several authors and translators have previously been recognized by the National Book Award for Translated Literature.

Translator Martin Aitken was a Finalist in 2018 and Longlisted in 2022. Mohamed Mbougar Sarr and translator Lara Vergnaud received Longlisted honors in 2023 for their work. Other notable names include Maria Stepanova and translator Sasha Dugdale, who were recognized in 2021, as well as Natasha Wimmer and translator Leri Price, both of whom have multiple nominations across recent years.

The writers and translators featured have received numerous accolades, including the International Booker Prize, the Dublin Literary Award, and the PEN Translation Prize. They have also obtained fellowships from prestigious organizations such as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Two Longlisted titles delve into body, identity, and culture. Egana Djabbarova’s My Dreadful Body, translated from Russian, depicts a young woman coping with a neurological illness while navigating cultural complexities. In Mohamed Mbougar Sarr’s Pure Men, a literature professor confronts his own sexuality amid societal norms after becoming aware of a tragic event in his conservative community.

Three titles examine themes of war and resistance. Now I Surrender by Álvaro Enrigue, translated from Spanish, begins with a widow escaping to the desert. Karim Kattan's Eden at Dawn traces a queer romance amid conflict, while Samar Yazbek’s Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life shares testimonies from Palestinians affected by recent violence.

Additionally, two titles grapple with the challenges of contemporary art and self-discovery. Karl Ove Knausgaard’s The School of Night follows a photographer confronting his past, while Maria Stepanova’s The Disappearing Act tells the story of a writer exploring her identity in a foreign town.

Characters in three other novels are on journeys of truth-seeking. Intan Paramaditha’s Night of a Thousand Hells involves a suicide bomber's impact on her family, and Ping Lu’s To the East of the East follows a Taiwanese woman searching for her husband in Beijing. Vicente Luis Mora’s Centroeuropa reflects on a widower uncovering buried secrets from war while seeking to honor his late wife.

A total of 159 books were submitted for consideration for this award. The judging panel includes Shelley Fairweather-Vega, Javier García del Moral, John Keene, Christopher Merrill (Chair), and Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi, with their deliberations being confidential.

The 2026 Longlist for the National Book Award for Translated Literature:

- Egana Djabbarova, My Dreadful Body, translated from Russian by Lisa C. Hayden

- Álvaro Enrigue, Now I Surrender, translated from Spanish by Natasha Wimmer

- Karim Kattan, Eden at Dawn, translated from French by Jeffrey Zuckerman

- Karl Ove Knausgaard, The School of Night, translated from Norwegian by Martin Aitken

- Ping Lu, To the East of the East, translated from Chinese by Jeremy Tiang

- Vicente Luis Mora, Centroeuropa, translated from Spanish by Rahul Bery

- Intan Paramaditha, Night of a Thousand Hells, translated from Indonesian by Stephen Epstein and Tiffany Tsao

- Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Pure Men, translated from French by Lara Vergnaud

- Maria Stepanova, The Disappearing Act, translated from Russian by Sasha Dugdale

- Samar Yazbek, Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life: Voices of Survival and Witness in Gaza, translated from Arabic by Leri Price.