Here is the 2026 National Book Award Shortlist for Poetry

Just last month, the National Book Award judges announced their longlists for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. Today, they’ve shared their shortlists for each of these categories. The awards will be presented at the National Book Award Ceremony and Dinner in November, when finalists will be awarded $1,000 each, and the winners of each category will win $10,000 and a bronze medal.Here are the five books on the shortlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Poetry, along with what critics, authors, and the National Book Awards are saying about them. Tree of Knowledge by Victoria Chang “Like af Klint’s artworks, Chang’s poems are vibrant and conceptually deep.” —The Cincinnati Review “Chang writes in both absolutes and inquiries as she artfully taps into what it means to be human while parsing through both personal and collective histories.” —Mother Jones Hide by Carolina Ebeid “It adds up to a memorable and skillful excavation of identity and inheritance.” —Publishers Weekly “Carolina Ebeid interlaces American English, Palestinian Arabic, and Cuban Spanish as she excavates memories—of her Palestinian father and Cuban mother’s forced m...