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The Top Book List

Award year

2026 Kirkus Prize

Announced

Kirkus Reviews named the winners of the 2026 Kirkus Prize on October 7, 2026, choosing one book in each of its three categories. Tayari Jones won the Fiction prize for Kin, Pamela Colloff took the Nonfiction prize for Catch the Devil, and Elizabeth Acevedo's Anger Is Only a Shadow won the Young Readers' Literature prize. Each category also had five other finalists, announced in late August, including new books by Colson Whitehead, Douglas Stuart, Michael Pollan, Patrick Radden Keefe and Daniel Nayeri, along with translated works from Spanish and French. In all, 18 books were recognized across the three categories.

Source: official announcement

Fiction

  • Cover of Kin by Tayari JonesWinner

    Kin

    Tayari Jones

    Kirkus Prize Winner

Also recognized

  • Luna, Phoenix, Queen by Julie OrringerFinalist

Nonfiction

Also recognized

  • A Hymn to Life by Gisèle Pelicot and Judith PerrignonFinalist
  • Defiance by Loubna MrieFinalist
  • Keeper of My Kin by Ada FerrerFinalist

Young Readers' Literature

Also recognized

  • Electric Birds of Pothakudi by Karthika NaïrFinalist
  • The Lovely Dark by Matthew FoxFinalist

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