Brood: A Novel
Jackie Polzin
Doubleday
Finalists
- Assembly by Natasha Brown
- The Recent East by Thomas Grattan
- My Monticello: Fiction by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
- When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut Translated by Adrian Nathan West
Burning Boy: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane
Paul Auster
Henry Holt & Company
Finalists
- Competing with Idiots: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, a Dual Portrait by Nick Davis
- All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner
- Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris
- The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science by John Tresch
Real Estate: A Living Autobiography
Sponsored by the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, this award encompasses fiction, travel writing, memoir and diary and honors exceptional work. Deborah Levy is the 2021 winner for Real Estate: A Living Autobiography. The third in a series,Real Estate breathes deep on its own, said the judges in their comments. Levy gorgeously wrestles with place, people, art, and work to create a funny, wise, and affecting self-portrait of a person much in the middle of discovering who she was, is, and hopes to be.
Midnight In Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could
Adam Schiff
Random House
Finalists
- Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City by Andrea Elliott
- The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
- Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration by Reuben Jonathan Miller
- Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury by Evan Osnos
In the Company of Men
Véronique Tadjo
Other Press
Finalists
- The Dangers of Smoking In Bed: Stories by Mariana Enriquez Translated by Megan McDowell
- American Estrangement: Stories by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
- I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness: A Novel by Claire Vaye Watkins
- Harrow: A Novel by Joy Williams
No One Else
R. Kikuo Johnson
Fantagraphics
Finalists
- Heaven No Hell by Michael DeForge
- The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim Translated by Janet Hong
- Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto & Ann Xu (Illustrator)
- Stone Fruit by Lee Lai
Cuba: An American History
Ada Ferrer
Scribner
Finalists
- Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance by Mia Bay
- The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics by Mae Ngai
- African Europeans: An Untold History by Olivette Otele
- I've Been Here All the While: Black Freedom on Native Land by Alaina E. Roberts
Reginald Dwayne Betts / Freedom Reads
Reginald Dwayne Betts, poet and activist, is the 2021 winner of the Innovator’s Award for his work with Freedom Reads. Betts has written powerfully about the role of books and reading in navigating his own prison experience. In its mission to bring books directly into the lives of the incarcerated, Freedom Reads offers readers a gateway to the transformative power of literature.
The Turnout: A Novel
Megan Abbott
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Finalists
- The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly
- Razorblade Tears: A Novel by S.A. Cosby
- The Collective: A Novel by Alison Gaylin
- Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
frank: sonnets
Diane Seuss
Graywolf Press
Finalists
- Master Suffering by CM Burroughs
- Playlist for the Apocalypse: Poems by Rita Dove
- Floaters: Poems by Martín Espada
- Yellow Rain: Poems by Mai Der Vang
Spirits Abroad: Stories
Zen Cho
Small Beer Press
Finalists
- Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
- The Dangers of Smoking In Bed: Stories by Mariana Enriquez Translated by Megan McDowell
- The World Gives Way: A Novel by Marissa Levien
- Sorrowland: A Novel by Rivers Solomon
Luis J. Rodriguez
Luis J. Rodriguez is the 42nd winner of the Times’ annual Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. The award is given to an author with a substantial connection to the American West whose contribution to American letters deserves special recognition. Luis served as the official Poet Laureate of Los Angeles from 2014 to 2016. Through poetry, memoir, essays, fiction, and journalism, he has used his craft to advocate for youth lost to gang life, to promote peace in our communities, and to bring people together in this chaotic world.
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Bold Type Books
Finalists
- Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World by Katharine Hayhoe
- Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World by Emma Marris
- God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning by Meghan O'Gieblyn
- A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds by Scott Weidensaul
A Sitting in St. James
Rita Williams-Garcia
Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins Children's Books
Finalists
- A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
- Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon
- From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo
2019 award winners
The ceremony begins
Poetry Judge, Cyrus Cassells
Author Jason Reynolds accepting the YA Prize for Long Way Down
