Percival Everett’s “James,” a unique retelling of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” has made its way onto the National Book Awards fiction nominee list. Also included in the long list of 10 nominees are Rachel Kushner’s inventive thriller “Creation Lake” and Miranda July’s insightful exploration of middle age in “All Fours.”
The National Book Foundation revealed the fiction list on Friday, marking the end of a week filled with announcements across competitive categories such as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young people’s literature, and books in translation. On October 1, judges will shorten the lists to five nominees, with the final winners set to be revealed on November 20 at a dinner event in Manhattan. During this ceremony, honorary awards will be presented to novelist Barbara Kingsolver and publisher-activist Paul Coates.
Among the nominees on the fiction list are two story collections: Pemi Aguda’s “Ghostroots” and Tony Tulathimutte’s “Rejection.” Additionally, three debut novels have made the cut: Kaveh Akbar’s “Martyr!,” Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s “Catalina,” and Sam Sax’s “Yr Dead,” a story partially set outside Trump Tower in Manhattan. Rounding out the list are Jessica Anthony’s “The Most” and Hisham Matar’s “My Friends.”