Last night, the 2025 National Book Awards ceremony took place at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan, celebrating literary excellence and daring storytelling. To an audience of black-tie attendees, hosted by Jeff Hiller and singing by Grammy-winner Corinne Bailey Rae, there were one of the most politically charged and globally resonant evenings in recent memory.
A celebration of the written word and a barometer of today’s tumultuous social and political landscape, this year’s award winners were in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature, and lifetime achievement in and service to literature.
The Big Winners: Diverse Voices and Global Themes
Fiction:
Rabih Alameddine won the National Book Award for Fiction for The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother), a darkly funny epic that takes place over six decades and two continents. Alameddine’s book, which is about a gay Lebanese philosophy teacher coming to terms with his identity, family, and cultural exile, was praised for being original, funny, and deeply human. The choice shows how stories about the Middle East and LGBTQ+ people are becoming more common in American literature.
Nonfiction:
Omar El Akkad won the Nonfiction prize for One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, a thought-provoking book about political violence, memory, and the media. El Akkad, who is known for his book American War, was praised for combining personal essays with global news stories to show how broken our world is right now.
Poetry:
Patricia Smith won the Poetry award for her book The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems. Smith’s writing, which includes tragedy, resilience, and the Black American experience, was praised for its emotional depth and formal daring.
Translated Literature:
Robin Myers‘s translation of Gabriela Cabezón Cámara’s We Are Green and Trembling won the Translated Literature prize. The judges liked how the novel’s vivid imagination and how well it was translated into English.
Young People’s Literature:
Daniel Nayeri‘s The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story won the Young People’s Literature award. It is a touching story about resilience, displacement, and hope seen through the eyes of a child.
Honoring Lifetime Achievement and Service
The event also honored two literary giants:
George Saunders was honored with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, given by Deborah Treisman, for his groundbreaking work and for mentoring new writers.
Roxane Gay was given the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community by Jacqueline Woodson for her activism, criticism, and championing of stories that include everyone.
Political Undertones and Social Relevance
This was the year of the National Book Awards, which took place in a context guided by the continuing social debate about migration, identity, war, and about authors as public intellectuals. Several winners and presenters took to the stage to remind us of the power of books to question the common wisdom, and build compassion, and also the work of books in fighting political injustice.
Moving speeches reminded us of the importance of supporting libraries and defending the freedom of authors, and/or those who have been empowered by being visible on the page, in the interest of bridging cultures in times of polarization and censorship.
Recognition Beyond Borders
The fact that writers from the Middle East and books in translation are so popular shows how far American publishing has come. This was a year when international stories, migration, and diasporic identity were all very important. Critics say that Alameddine and El Akkad’s wins show that more and more American readers are interested in points of view that cross national and linguistic lines. This makes the conversation about literature and society more interesting.
A Literary Legacy
The National Book Awards, which started in 1950, are still the most sought-after award in the American book industry. They help new authors get their start and build their careers. Finalists and winners get more sales, more attention from critics, and more exposure in classrooms and book clubs all over the country.
The people in charge said that they would be starting new projects in 2026 to reach out to communities that don’t get enough attention and to inspire young writers.
