Marlon James, Erdrich Lead NBA Fiction Longlist

The National Book Foundation's 2026 Fiction longlist pairs two debuts with six previously honored authors, led by Marlon James and Louise Erdrich.

The National Book Foundation announced the ten-title longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Fiction in partnership with The New Yorker, the final of five category lists released this week. The Fiction slate includes Hannah Lillith Assadi's *Paradiso 17*, Kimberly Blaeser's *Red Ants*, Edwidge Danticat's *Dèy*, Julián Delgado Lopera's *Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You*, Louise Erdrich's *Python's Kiss*, Marlon James's *The Disappearers*, Valeria Luiselli's *Beginning Middle End*, Alexander Maksik's *Passengers*, Kenan Orhan's *The Renovation*, and Morgan Thomas's *Mad Eden*. Publishers submitted 451 books for the category, from which judges pared the field to ten.

The National Book Foundation notes the list features two debut novels and six authors previously honored by the Foundation, including Assadi, a 2018 5 Under 35 honoree; Blaeser, a 2026 Science + Literature honoree; Danticat, a 1995 Fiction finalist for *Krik? Krak!*; Erdrich, winner of the 2012 National Book Award for Fiction for *The Round House*; Marlon James, a 2019 Fiction finalist for *Black Leopard, Red Wolf*; and Luiselli, a 2014 5 Under 35 honoree. According to the Foundation, the honorees also include fellows of the Guggenheim and MacArthur foundations and a past Wisconsin Poet Laureate.

According to the National Book Foundation, Marlon James's *The Disappearers* is set in Kingston, Jamaica in 1988 and chronicles the aftermath of a homophobic mob attack at a play rehearsal, blending crime thriller with a study of the early AIDS epidemic. The Associated Press, as reported by WTOP News, describes the novel as deeply personal and notes it also appeared on the Booker Prize longlist. Erdrich's *Python's Kiss*, per the Foundation, features human and nonhuman characters — from a guard dog to a Burmese python and a Venetian vampire — with illustrations by her daughter Aza Erdrich Abe. The New Yorker reports five of its stories first appeared in its pages.

Book Riot highlights the same mix, noting the two debuts belong to Morgan Thomas's *Mad Eden* and Kenan Orhan's *The Renovation*. Per the National Book Foundation, *Mad Eden* follows Ro, a trans healthcare worker newly diagnosed with autism, living in a secluded Florida cabin while excerpts from an online fantasy story blur time and genre. *The Renovation*, the Foundation says, centers on an Istanbul migrant in Italy who discovers her second-floor bathroom has transformed into a Turkish prison cell — a surreal take on migration, memory, and home. Book Riot also flags that James's newly released queer epic had recently sold out.

The Foundation released longlists of ten nominees each across five categories — Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People's Literature — with the Fiction list announced last. The New Yorker's coverage notes Intan Paramaditha's *Night of a Thousand Hells* is the first Indonesian translation ever honored by the National Book Awards, while Knausgaard's *The School of Night* and Chanel Miller's *The Moon Without Stars* also made their respective lists, as the AP's WTOP report recounts. Honorary medals this year will go to Salman Rushdie and Perri Klass, according to WTOP.

Judges will narrow each longlist of ten to five finalists, to be announced Tuesday, October 6, per the National Book Foundation, with winners revealed live at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, in Manhattan. The Fiction judging panel comprises Matt Bell, chair Caro De Robertis, bookseller Danielle King, Akhil Sharma, and Diane Wilson, according to the Foundation and The New Yorker. A livestream is available via registration at nationalbook.org › awards.